BELDEN – A fast-moving fire on Wednesday continued to whip through timber on both sides of the Feather River Canyon four miles east of Belden, closing state Highway 70 for a second day.
The Rich fire grew to 2,424 acres and was torching trees, sending sparks aloft that started new fires, said Terri Simon-Jackson, a fire information officer.
Plumas County Sheriff Terry Bergstrand ordered about 30 residents of the Rush Creek, Rich Bar and Virgilia areas to evacuate, citing strong winds and the nearness of flames to their houses.
Evacuation is voluntary for residents to the east along the Feather River and as far north as Seneca, Bergstrand said.
The Rich fire started around 3:30 Tuesday afternoon and quickly grew to more than 100 acres, hoisting a huge plume of smoke that rained ash and burned pine needles on the Indian Valley area 20 miles away.
Plumas Forest officials are still investigating the cause of the fire and have no estimate of when they will contain it, Simon-Jackson said.
Farther east, in Lassen County, a 3,000-acre fire near the community of Doyle burned through sagebrush and stands of pinion and juniper, threatening several rural structures.
Officials believe the blaze was started by lightning Tuesday morning, said Helen Frazier, a spokeswoman with the Sierra Front Interagency Dispatch Center in Nevada.
Reno firefighters are protecting the Rancho Haven area as a precaution, she said.
The Gooseberry fire, which is 35 percent contained, is also threatening the habitat of sage grouse, mountain quail and big-horned sheep, Frazier said.
