Update: 355-acre Foothill Fire between Roseville and Lincoln fully contained
Firefighters have extinguished a fast-spreading grass fire that broke out in a Placer County field between Lincoln and Roseville on Monday afternoon.
The Foothill Fire reached 355 acres and was declared fully contained just after 8 p.m. by Cal Fire’s Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit on Twitter. Forward progress was stopped around 2:30 p.m.
At around 1:35 p.m., sheriff’s officials issued a mandatory evacuation order for an industrial area just north of Roseville. The order was lifted at 3:30 p.m.
The blaze swelled quickly in a field between Thunder Valley Casino and a stretch of industrial buildings in unincorporated Placer County, spreading southward toward structures as it was fueled by strong winds. Plumes of smoke could be seen in Lincoln and from Interstate 80 near Roseville and Rocklin.
Fire crews remained at the scene to continue containment and mop up the fire, which started in the area of Cincinnati Avenue and Foothills Boulevard, Cal Fire said in tweets. The fire grew to 45 to 50 acres in size “with a dangerous rate of spread” and was directly threatening structures.
Evacuation orders were issued for the area east of Foothills Boulevard, west of Cincinnati Avenue, south of Athens Boulevard and north of Blue Oaks. That evacuation zone did not include homes, but was near the edge of the Blue Oaks neighborhood in Roseville.
According to the California Highway Patrol incident page, traffic was blocked on nearby West Sunset Boulevard to keep vehicles away from the fire.
Cal Fire’s Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit said in an initial tweet around 1 p.m. that the fire had potential to grow to about 25 acres, but the blaze shot well past that estimate due to gusty conditions.
Cal Fire Nevada-Yuba-Placer spokesperson Mary Eldridge said the fire had “some potential on it” with conditions in the area remaining dry and windy.
A video posted by the sheriff’s office showed flames and smoke blowing swiftly with the wind near an intersection.
The sheriff’s office in a tweet just after 1:30 p.m. asked people to “avoid the area,” then issued the evacuation order five minutes later.
The grass fire ignited during windy conditions across Northern California, with gusts up to 40 mph possible in the Sacramento Valley and foothills on Monday, according to the National Weather Service.
This story was originally published November 25, 2019 at 1:18 PM.
