Rapid-moving Placer County fire was halted quickly. Officials reveal how it started
Crews responded to a fast-moving fire that ignited Wednesday afternoon near the Placer County community of Newcastle, but spread of the fire was halted within about an hour, authorities said.
“Forward progress stopped,” Cal Fire’s Nevada-Yuba-Placer tweeted just after 1:45 p.m. The fire continues to burn near Perry Ranch Road as crews work to extinguish hot spots.
The Perry Fire burned nearly 8 acres, half of those in Auburn and the other half in an unincorporated area of the county, the Cal Fire unit announced shortly before 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. Firefighters had 75% of the vegetation fire contained.
Cal Fire officials said one firefighter suffered from a heat-related illness, and investigators determined mechanical equipment started the fire.
The fire had been burning “with a rapid rate of spread in light flashy fuels,” Cal Fire’s Nevada-Yuba-Placer said in earlier social media posts just before 1 p.m., saying the fire presented “immediate” structure threat.
It’s not yet clear whether any buildings were damaged.
Evacuations from the Perry Fire had been issued in the immediate area. Perry Ranch Road is a few hundred feet south of Interstate 80, about a mile southwest of Auburn.
Placer County sheriff’s deputies and the Auburn Police Department were handling evacuations.
“Avoid the area if possible,” Auburn Police Chief Ryan Kinnan said in a social media post. “Additional information will be made available as this incident progresses.”
The Placer County Sheriff’s Office says a 1-mile radius around Rogers Lane and Perry Ranch Road is under an evacuation warning.
Cal Fire NEU posted video that showed smoke from the fire burning near a home in a dry, hilly field surrounded by trees, and then a photo of a plane making a low pass to drop retardant on the flames.
Newcastle, in unincorporated Placer County, has a population of about 1,200.
This story was originally published August 26, 2020 at 1:08 PM.
