Update: Some evacuations lifted as Yuba County’s Glen Fire grows to 200 acres

The towns of Brownsville and Challenge were briefly evacuated late Wednesday afternoon as the Glen Fire burned in the foothills of Yuba County, about 75 miles northeast of Sacramento, but residents soon were allowed to return to their homes.

The fast-moving fire burning on a north-northeast path just south of Brownsville, a town of about 1,200 people, also forced the evacuation of a Thousand Trails campground near the community of Oregon House.

The small, rural communities are tucked into rugged pine and oak about 35 miles northeast of Marysville.

The Glen Fire blackened 200 acres in dense, forested terrain, by 6:30 p.m., according to Cal Fire officials, as fire crews continued their work on the ground and from the air into the evening. There is no containment. No injuries have been reported.

The blaze began as a vegetation fire triggered by a car wreck about 3:30 p.m. in the area of Willow Glen Road and Pineridge Way between the communities of Oregon House and Brownsville, according to Yuba County Sheriff’s reports and the online site YubaNet Fire News.

The fire quickly raced to more than 100 acres, sending air tankers from nearby Grass Valley and Cal Fire crews to the scene.

Pacific Gas & Electric reported 158 customers without power in Brownsville and Challenge at 6:30 p.m.

Yuba County Sheriff’s officials ordered people living on Frenchtown Road north of Frenchtown-Dobbins Road to evacuate immediately. Residents in the communities of Challenge and Pike were also ordered to evacuate, according to YubaNet.

Evacuees were told to flee to the north, taking La Porte Road toward Bangor, in Butte County, if possible, and to avoid Willow Glen Road. Roads are closed at Willow Glen and Marysville Road and Frenchtown Road.

A temporary evacuation center opened at the Yuba Sutter Fairgrounds, 442 Franklin Ave. in Yuba City. Large animal evacuations can be taken to the Yuba County Sheriff Posse Arena at 5419 Marysville Rd., in Browns Valley.

For more information and updates on Glen Fire evacuations, visit the Yuba County Zonehaven evacuation alert system at community.zonehaven.com

This story was originally published August 11, 2021 at 5:19 PM.

Darrell Smith

The Sacramento Bee

916-321-1040

Darrell Smith is a local reporter for The Sacramento Bee. He joined The Bee in 2006 and previously worked at newspapers in Palm Springs, Colorado Springs and Marysville. Smith was born and raised at Beale Air Force Base and lives in Elk Grove.