Where are the fires burning in Northern California? Updates on evacuations in Nevada County

Firefighters halted forward progress on a blaze that was burning in the North San Juan area of Nevada County, a fire that started late Thursday and forced evacuations.

The Reader Fire involved three separate fires, one of which had been halted as of 6:40 p.m. while the other two continued to burn near the Yuba River, Cal Fire’s Nevada-Yuba-Placer unit said in a social media post.

Sheriff’s officials shortly after 6:30 p.m. ordered evacuations forZone 331, which is the Tyler Foote and Purdon Road area, and Zone 330, which includes the Millhouse, Montezuma and central Purdon areas along Highway 49.

The Sheriff’s Office in updates around 7:15 p.m. said progress on the fire had been halted and that evacuation orders were lifted.

Highway Fire

Evacuations remain in place for a wildfire that grew minimally overnight across portions of Tahoe National Forest in Nevada County, one of many scorching Northern California this week.

The Highway Fire has burned nearly 35 acres with 10% containment, according to a Friday update from Tahoe National Forest.

More than 300 firefighters have been assigned to the blaze, with additional personnel expected to arrive Thursday, U.S. Forest Service officials said. The forest service said in its morning update that firefighters plan to focus on perimeter and fire line reinforcement as daytime high temperatures remain in the mid-90s with northerly winds as high as 9 mph.

The grass fire ignited Wednesday afternoon near the town of Washington, close to Washington Road and south of Alpha Road close to Highway 20. The fire burned roughly 25 acres in three hours.

Nevada County sheriff’s officials on Thursday evening issued revised evacuation orders and warnings. Evacuations on Wednesday had been mandatory in three county evacuation zones: 30, 315 and 316. The zones are near the town of Washington, home to a little more than 100 residents.

In a Friday morning update, residents of Washington would be allowed controlled access to the town from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. only. Access points will be at Washington Creek to the north to Phelps Hill Road to the south.

Zone 30, located just north of Highway 20, remained under a mandatory evacuation order as of a 8 a.m. update from sheriff’s officials.

Zone 315 was split into two zones, 315-A and 315-B; Zone 315-A remained under evacuation orders while 315-B, a smaller pocket along Highway 20, was reduced to a warning. Zone 316, north of those two zones, was also reduced to an evacuation warning.

County evacuation zones 15 and 318, which had been in warning status from Wednesday through early Thursday afternoon, were cleared of evacuation advisories as of 5 p.m.

Updated evacuation maps are available from Genasys Protect, formerly known as Zonehaven.

A temporary evacuation point is at Madelyn Helling Library at 980 Helling Way in Nevada City. The animal evacuation housing is at Nevada County Fairgrounds Gate 8 at 11228 McCourtney Road in Grass Valley.

Questions about the Highway Fire should be directed to the fire information line at 530-264-8309.

Klamath August Lightning Complex

A series of fires in Northern California’s forestlands did not grow significantly overnight Thursday thanks to favorable weather and light rain.

The largest of the 20 fires burning in the complex is the Head Fire, which was sparked by lightning and has charred at least 3,000 acres near the confluence of the Klamath and Scott rivers. The fire remains at 0% containment Friday morning, according to the Klamath National Forest, though the fire is not expected to grow much beyond its current size unless significant winds pick up.

The nearby Den Fire is now 100 acres and firefighters were able to dig fire lines and lay hose around the blaze overnight, the forest service said. Firefighters also continued to make progress against the Scott Fire to the south, with crews working on structure protection in the area.

Even further south, the Deep Fire is more than 2,000 acres in the Trinity Alps Wilderness Area and is threatening structures, wildlife habitats, historical and cultural resources as well as high-value bridges, the forest service said.

The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office expanded evacuation orders to several areas Wednesday that were under evacuation warnings. Homes in Zone 2001-B and those north of Highway 96 are now included in mandatory evacuation orders, as well as those south of Hamburg, east of Horse Creek Road, south and north of Highway 96 and south of Forest Road 46N46.

Highway 96 and Scott Bar Road remain closed.

Siskiyou August Lightning Complex

Another series of lightning-sparked blazes are burning in the far southeast corner of Siskiyou County. The largest of the eight wildfires is the Ranch Fire, which merged with the White Fire. Cal Fire personnel reported that the combined fire has charred more than 700 acres and is 10% contained.

The other fires in the complex are below 75 acres with five of the smallest blazes under full containment. Combined, crews are reporting 20% containment across the complex.

According to Cal Fire, 673 lightning strikes were detected in Siskiyou County over a 48-hour stretch ending Wednesday morning with 130 of them detected as cloud-to-ground strikes within Cal Fire territory.

This story was originally published August 17, 2023 at 10:07 AM.