Butte County towns, including Paradise, face danger from North Complex fire

The start of a new week brought renewed unease as gusty winds, high temperatures and low humidity fed a wildfire in Butte County that has been burning for weeks with the potential to destroy even more homes and businesses.

Voluntary evacuation warnings remained in place Monday in the towns of Paradise and Magalia, both of which were devastated by the Camp Fire two years ago. High winds on Sunday and Monday fanned spot fires on the north flank of the North Complex fire near Highway 70 in the Feather River Canyon, prompting the warnings.

Cal Fire officials reported they had sent more to the area to contain the flare-ups.

“There are miles of (bull)dozer lines already in place in that area from during and after the Camp Fire,” Cal Fire spokesman Rick Carhart said Monday.

Within two hours of Sunday night’s evacuation warning, at least 50 people from Magalia and surrounding areas called Butte County Sheriff’s Office dispatchers with questions about where the fire was or what evacuation escape routes to take, logs show.

Several others said they were concerned about loved ones who were without electricity, vehicles or had limited mobility.

“Winds are blowing like crazy,” former Paradise Mayor Jody Jones said Monday morning. She spent a sleepless night in her newly rebuilt home in town. But, she said, “everyone is telling us Paradise and Magalia are not in any danger at the present time. They are just waiting for the winds to die down later today.”

Evacuations were ordered for Pulga, Concow, Big Bend and Yankee Hill, where wind speeds remained high Monday morning.

It was unclear by midday whether the fire had burned any additional structures. Where thick smoke plumes from explosive fires in near Santa Rosa and Redding dominated the sky, a haze lingered in the sky near Paradise and Oroville.

The North Complex fire already sprinted at a furious pace earlier this month, during an earlier wind event, killing 15 people in communities just north of Lake Oroville. The large complex first ignited in mid-August by lightning.

The North Complex Fire has burned 305,188 acres and is 78% contained.

The National Weather Service expects calmer winds Tuesday, though temperatures will remain high and humidity levels will stay low.

Butte County supervisor Bill Connelly said that as far as he knows, the fire hasn’t burned into any of the small towns under evacuation around the border between Butte and Yuba counties, but it’s imperative for local residents to heed the evacuation order.

”Because it’s so hard to get people out and many of them don’t have cell coverage,” he said. “It’s mandatory, and they should take it seriously.”

The Yuba County Sheriff’s Office on Monday morning announced all evacuation orders and evacuation warnings had been lifted in the county. Rackerby, Forbestown, Brownsville, Challenge, Woodleaf, Clipper Mills, and Strawberry Valley are now “fully open,” the sheriff’s office wrote in a Facebook post.

“Please remain vigilant as we continue to move forward through this fire season.”

This story was originally published September 28, 2020 at 9:40 AM.