Forward progress stopped on Nevada County’s Kearney Fire, authorities say
A fast moving wildfire sparked evacuation orders in Nevada County on Tuesday afternoon as officials called for a large response from state and local firefighting agencies, before firefighters stopped its progress just before 7 p.m.
The blaze, named the Kearney Fire, was near Smartsville in the area of Kearney Court, which is south of Highway 20, according to the Nevada County Office of Emergency Services. Earlier Tuesday evening, officials ordered the evacuations of residents of two zones in the area: Zone NCO-E010 and Zone NCO-E011, both of which are south of Highway 20 and near the Yuba County line. Authorities issued an evacuation warning for two zones north of the highway, as well as a third zone south of the highway but to the east of where evacuation orders were in place.
Most evacuation orders had been downgraded to warnings by 7 p.m., though residents in an area close to the fire perimeter remained under evacuation orders.
On emergency dispatch channels, officials had previously requested the assistance of California Highway Patrol as the fire was moving quickly in the direction of the highway.
Firefighters first responded to the fire around 4 p.m., and quickly reported that it was moving at a dangerous rate and had sparked multiple spot fires, according to the wildfire tracking service Watch Duty.
By 7 p.m., when firefighters reported they’d stopped the blaze’s forward progress, they had mapped it at 41 acres.
This story was originally published July 14, 2026 at 5:00 PM.
