Small wildfire starts in Northern California highlight danger of extreme weather

Three new fires have started in Shasta County as red flag warnings persist, causing concern for possible rapid spread due to low humidity and strong winds.

The Point Fire is burning off of Gas Point Road and Libby Lane in Shasta and Tehama counties. The blaze, which started Sunday morning, has burned 225 acres and is 30% contained, as of a Sunday afternoon update from Cal Fire.

The fire triggered evacuations south of Cottonwood for residents on Evergreen Road from Bowman Road to Starr Drive in Tehama County. While many resources have been assigned to fight the flames, winds have caused challenges.

The Dersch Fire, which has burned 50 acres east of Anderson in Shasta County, began early Sunday afternoon near Dersch Road and Franciscan Way. The fire is burning uncontained, though forward progress has been stopped.

The Olinda Fire started Sunday afternoon near West Anderson Drive and Davidson Lane in Shasta County, southwest of Anderson. The blaze was originally estimated to be around 20 acres, but with better mapping, the size was reduced to five acres split among multiple fires. Firefighters have reached 60% containment with the Olinda Fire.

Concern over red flag warnings across the state caused Cal Fire to position crews in high-risk areas, like Shasta County, prior to the weather event. The agency aimed to have an aggressive initial attack on new fires, to stop any forward spread.

Winds at 4:30 p.m. Sunday were gusting to 47 mph at Redding airport, according to the National Weather Service.

Strong winds and low humidity are expected to continue until Tuesday, causing PG&E to enact public safety power shutoffs across Northern California, with the blackout starting in Redding and across northern counties on Sunday morning.

This story was originally published October 25, 2020 at 4:24 PM.