More evacuations in Lassen County
New Lassen County evacuation orders have been issued for Milford and Herlong area east (lake side) of Highway 395 from the Thunder Mountain Road intersection south to County Road A26 and Garnier Road. This includes the south side of County Road A25 east. It does not include Sierra Army Depot.
Additional evacuation orders have been released for Herlong area north of County Road A25 from Long Valley Creek east to Pole Line Road.
As the fire continues to grow in size, Highway 44 from Old Station to Highway 36 is reopening.
On Wednesday evening, an evacuation warning was also issued for North Doyle area west of Highway 395 from the County Road A26 intersection south to Berniece Lane and all roads accessed by Pickens Road.
Highway 36 between Westwood and Susanville will be lifted in Lassen County.
Further evacuation orders have been lowered to warnings in Plumas County. This includes Humbug Road from the intersection
of the Humbug-Humboldt Road west to the Butte County line and everything south of the Humbug Road. It also includes Highway 36 south to the west side of Highway 89 including Mud Lake, Soldiers Meadows and Shanghai Creek area, south to Humbug Road and west to the Butte County line.
Evacuation orders have also been lowered to warnings for the Highway 89 and Highway 36 Junction, north along Stover Mountain Road to the county line, west from Highway 89 and Highway 36 Junction along the south side of the highway to the county line.
In Butte County, all evacuation warnings have been lowered.
Containment of the fire has risen to 55 percent.
The fire grew an additional 12,149 acres into Thursday, Cal Fire reported, bringing the total acres burnt to 859,457 acres.
No further damage was reported to structures with currently destroyed structures still a total 1,282. The total number of damaged structures is still 92. Structures currently threatened by the fire reduced by 1,468 on Thursday to a total of 14,206.
East zone
In the east zone, crews will work closely with the west zone in an attempt to keep the fire from Milford and Highway 395 after strong growth to the northeast on Wednesday. Combined efforts will revolve around constructing direct and indirect lines of containment where the opportunity to reduce spread to the northwest and southeast is present.
Bull dozer lines from Lake Davis to Clover Valley, then further north will be constructed on Thursday to keep fire from spreading towards the Dixie Valley.
In order to keep the spread from the Highway 70 corridor, crews will continue a focused effort on extending dozer lines down Grizzly Ridge to tie into the shore of Lake Davis.
Structure protection remains in place within Genesee, Taylorsville, Greenhorn and Cromberg.
West zone
In the west zone, fire activity slightly reduced Wednesday night. Crews will continue to construct containment lines in steep and rugged terrain in the Lassen Volcanic National Park using direct attack and air operations when conditions allow.
Cal Fire reported resources and equipment will be working along Highway
395 to establish containment and provide structure protection in and around the communities of Janesville, Milford, Buntingville, Herlong and Junction.
South of Old Station, crews continue to establish direct and indirect containment lines along Highway 44 monitoring for spot fires across the highway while protecting critical fiber optic cable.
The remainder of the fire continues to smolder and consume heavier materials and interior islands. Southwest winds are predicted to continue a downward trend with only a few wind gusts up to 20 miles per hour predicted this afternoon.
With evacuation orders lifted allowing some residents to return home, Cal Fire encourages those returning to remain vigilant to current conditions.
Cal Fire said some residents may see smoke coming from trees and stumps for days following their return. If residents are concerned about any active flames, they are encouraged to call 911 and not attempt to extinguish them.
For the most up to date information about road closures follow Caltrans or California Highway Patrol on social media. A full view of the fires burning across California can be found by visiting https://www.fire. ca.gov/incidents.