Dixie Fire spreads to 1,100 acres within hours
Blaze broke out Tuesday near footprint of 2018’s devastating Camp Fire
Firefighters scrambled to contain a rapidly growing wildfire Wednesday that engulfed more than 1,100 acres in Feather River Canyon in less than a day.
The Dixie Fire broke out Tuesday near Highway 70 in Butte County near the footprint of the Camp Fire, which devastated the town of Paradise three years ago. Overnight, the blaze spread to 60 acres and had encompassed about 1,100 acres within hours.
Cal Fire initially pegged the fire at 1,200 acres Wednesday but downsized that estimate after more accurate mapping. Wind-blown embers were sparking spot fires about onequarter mile ahead of the fire’s main body.
The Butte County Sheriff’s Office issued an evacuation warning for the Pulga and East Concow areas, but fire officials said that flames were burning entirely into Plumas County, away from populated areas.
The fire started at Dixie Road and Camp Creek Road, near where the deadly Camp Fire ravaged the surrounding communi
ties of Paradise, Concow and Pulga in 2018. John Gaddie, fire captain with the Cal Fire Butte Unit, said that investigators have not determined how the fire began.
Pacific Gas & Electric’s Caribou-Palermo transmission line sparked the Camp Fire three years ago in the same Feather River Canyon area, east of Pulga. Though that line has been permanently de-energized, several other PG&E lines run through the region, Gaddie confirmed.
In an emailed statement, a PG&E spokesperson said that those transmission lines lost power because of the Dixie Fire’s smoke, cutting off service to 10,000 people in Plumas County until about 2 p.m. The spokesperson did not respond directly to questions about whether the utility is investigating any potential involvement with the fire.
PG&E has not filed a report to the California Public Utilities Commission, which is required within two to four hours when serious electrical incidents occur. CPUC spokesperson Terrie Prosper confirmed that they had not received a report but added: “We would only receive an incident report if a utility’s equipment was believed/ thought to be involved in the fire, so we might not know immediately.”
Crews were struggling to access the fire because of the steep terrain, deep canyons and limited roads that define the area, Gaddie said, and it remained 0% contained Wednesday afternoon. About 350 personnel were on scene, and with more resources requested, the number of firefighters is expected to grow by the hundreds in the coming days.
The fire crews’ main priority is to build lines along the fire’s western flank, protecting against winds blowing downward into canyons and potentially closer to the region’s populated areas, Gaddie said.
The forested, rocky area is likely to see “sundowner” breezes that could reach about 10 mph with 20 mph gusts today and Friday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Sierra Littlefield. Through the end of the week, temperatures are forecast to hit the 80s during the day and cool off to the mid-60s overnight.
Although the gusts are not particularly strong, “even some wind is really not good” for the fire’s behavior given the dry conditions of the timber and brush, Littlefield added.
The latest Northern California wildfire arrived as crews finally stamped down the spread of the Beckwourth Complex Fire, located east of Dixie in Plumas and Lassen counties. Comprised of the Dotta and Sugar fires, the Beckwourth blaze burned about 95,000 acres over the course of two weeks and was 71% contained as of Wednesday.
Firefighters got the upper hand as they formed strong containment lines along much of the fire’s eastern flank near Nevada on Tuesday, the U.S. Forest Service said. Some evacuation orders in both counties were downgraded as a result of the good news.
To the south, however, Madera County declared a local state of emergency to request state and federal help as the River Fire charred about 9,500 acres near Yosemite National Park. That fire was about 21% contained as of Wednesday afternoon.
Experts worry that two extremely dry winters — along with increasingly severe heat waves — have primed 2021 to be one of the most destructive fire years in recent memory. Already in July, Cal Fire has responded to blazes that would have previously been considered typical for September or October.
One red flag warning remained in effect until 8 p.m. Wednesday in the state’s far northeast Modoc National Forest, the weather service said. The Bootleg Fire in southern Oregon near the California border now covers about 212,000 acres, the biggest wildfire in the nation.
For its part, the Dixie Fire is burning steadily to the north and northwest of its ignition point, sparing nearby communities. Still, Gaddie urged all residents in the remote region to continue checking sheriff’s office updates and review their own evacuation plans.
“I’m not saying where this fire is going to go or how fast it’s going to go, but be prepared,” Gaddie said. “Please pay attention.”