North Complex Fire Claims 10 Lives, 244,203 Acres & 2,000 Structures Destroyed

Oroville, CA…North Zone: From Lee Summit to Claremont Peak, the fire remains in the current footprint. Crews are engaged with tactical firing operations near Lookout Rock and reinforcing structure protection in the Bucks Lake, Haskins, and Highlands areas. Crews are prepping existing roads and building dozer lines to tie in with old fire scars and contingency lines from the Camp Fire. This will eventually tie in with Highway 70 north of Elephant Butte.

South Zone: Tonight, crews will continue to construct line along the Pacific Crest Trail and prep a series of existing roads south of Little Grass Reservoir to tie into La Porte Road. Structures within the Little Grass Valley Reservoir area are not currently impacted or threatened by fire but are being prepped with structure protection and hose lays as a contingency.

West Zone: This area is being managed by CAL FIRE/Butte County: https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2020/8/18/northcomplex- fire/#incident-overview. Butte County Sheriff reported 7 additional civilian fatalities for a total of ten.

Evacuations and Road Closures

Mandatory evacuation orders and evacuation advisories are in place for Butte, Plumas, and Yuba Counties. Check the appropriate county’s Facebook page for their latest information.

Weather and Air Quality

Winds have shifted and are now coming from the west. Smoke is currently in the Hazardous category in Quincy and Chester and will continue through the night. Smoke outlook: https://fires.airfire.org/outlooks/EasternSierra 

Forest Closures

Due to unprecedented and historic fire conditions throughout the state, the USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region has closed all eighteen National Forests in California, including the Plumas National Forest. https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd801413.pdf 

Meetings are being broadcast daily through Zoom:

  • Cooperators Meeting daily at 10 A.M.: https://usfs.zoomgov.com/j/1602646317 
  • Planning Meeting daily at 7 P.M.: https://usfs.zoomgov.com/j/1600484186 WEST ZONE – *67,295 acres – 5% contained

    Tuesday afternoon, September 8th the North Complex fire entered Butte County, driven by high winds, heavy fuels, and steep terrain. An eight-mile wide fire front bore down on northeastern Butte County burning over 67,000 acres. Firefighters spent Tuesday and into Wednesday morning engaged in life-saving and evacuation operations. Firefighters rescued more than 100 residents throughout the day and overnight as the fire did major damage to the communities of Berry Creek, Feather Falls, Brush Creek and others, and continues to be a threat to surrounding areas, including the city of Oroville. This fire has only been burning for the last 2 days, now more than ever is the time to be vigilant.

    The weather continues to work in the firefighters favor with decreased winds, lower temperatures, and higher humidities, allowing crews to aggressively fight fire and develop further containment lines. However the lack of visibility continues to be a factor, as heavy smoke in the area of the fire hampers the ability of aircraft to fight the fire from above.

    Firefighters will continue to strengthen fire lines and extinguish interior hot spots to protect threatened population centers. CAL FIRE Damage Assessment Teams will start tomorrow to begin the process of documenting the destroyed and damaged structures within the fire area.

    Total acreage of the North Complex is 244,203 acres @ 23% contained. *67,295 acres included in the 244,203 acre total

    Evacuations:

    Per the Butte County Sheriff’s Office, ( https://www.facebook.com/bcsonews ), the following areas are under an evacuation order:

  • Feather Falls, Clipper Mills, Berry Creek, Brush Creek, Forbestown, Kelly Ridge, Copley Acres
  • Residents east of Miners Ranch Road at 162 and Oro-Bangor Road, which includes Bangor and parts of Mt. Ida
  • Highway 70 at Cherokee Rd south to Thompson Flat Cemetery Road, and all points east to Lake Oroville.Per the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office, ( https://www.facebook.com/plumascountysheriff ), the following areas are under an evacuation order:
  • La Porte – Little Grass Valley Reservoir: All residents, campgrounds, and recreational facilities near Little Grass Valley Reservoir and the town of La Porte. Onion Valley south to the county line.
  • Bucks Lake – From Bucks Lake Rd (Highway 162) at the Plumas / Butte County Line east to Bucks Lake Rd at Big Creek Road (east intersection). This includes Bucklin Road from Mill
  • Creek Campground south to Bucks Lake Road, all residents, recreational facilities, campgrounds in the Bucks Lake area.

Per the Yuba County Sheriff’s Office, ( https://www.facebook.com/yubacountysheriff  ) the following areas are under an evacuation order:

  • Residents in the area of the La Porte Road and NY Flat Road, north of Brownsville to the county line.
  • Forbestown, Clipper Mills, Woodleaf, Strawberry Valley
  • Northern Yuba County border from Strawberry Valley to Forbestown and south to Rackerby and Brownsville-Challenge all the way over the upper portion of Bullards Bar Reservoir
  • Evacuation warnings are in effect for the following areas:
  • Quincy La Porte Road – from Highway 70 south to Red Bridge
  • New Meadow Valley – From Bucks Lake Road at Big Creek Road east to Snake Lake Road
  • New Feather River Canyon (Highway 70) – From the Plumas/Butte County Line east to Belden, this includes the Community of Belden.

Road Closures: Quincy La Porte Road from Highway 70 to Red Bridge is open to essential travel ONLY. Peppard Flat Road (the dirt portion) Quincy La Porte Road between the Plumas/Butte County Line and Bucks Lake Big Creek Road (east intersection) and all roads in between.

Source CAL FIRE