Cal Fire crews contain vegetation fire in Placer County that briefly closed Highway 65
A vegetation fire in Placer County on Thursday prompted authorities to close a portion of a nearby highway as Cal Fire crews corralled the blaze in a rural area of Lincoln.
Shortly after 4:30 p.m. Thursday, the Cal Fire Nevada-Placer-Yuba unit reported the wildfire burned about 75 acres near Nelson Lane and Highway 65. Called the Nelson Fire, the blaze had a potential of of growing to 100 acres, according to Cal Fire.
After further examination, Cal Fire officials announced the fire was only 60 acres. Firefighters stopped the fire’s forward spread and had 80 percent containment. By 5 p.m., Cal Fire crews had 100 percent containment of the fire that had grown to 110 acres.
The Cal Fire Nevada-Placer-Yuba unit reported that the Placer County fire was caused by a bird that went into nearby power lines.
A fire that burned 95 acres and destroyed three homes in Butte County on Wednesday was also called the Nelson Fire because of its origin near Nelson Avenue in the area of Thermalito. That fire was fully contained by Wednesday evening.
The Nelson Fire on Thursday in south Placer County led to an evacuation warning that was sent shortly before 5 p.m. to anyone in the area around Nelson Lane. Several minutes later, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office announced that the evacuation warning had been cancelled, and that firefighters were gaining control of the blaze.
Shortly before 4:30 p.m., sheriff’s deputies had closed the northbound lanes of Highway 65, just north of Nelson Lane.
By 5:30 p.m., the California Highway Patrol closed Highway 65 in both directions from Nelson Lane to West Wise Road and were asking drivers to avoid the area. The highway was reopened about 20 minutes later.
This story was originally published June 18, 2020 at 6:17 PM.
