PLUMAS, LASSEN AND BUTTE COUNTIES, CA (MPG) – Evacuation Warnings continue to turn into Evacuation Orders as the Dixie Fire, burning for more than a week now, continues its spread and expansion through the Feather River Canyon.

According to a CALFIRE Incident Update, the Dixie Fire started July 13, just after 5:15 pm near the Cresta Powerhouse in the Feather River Canyon in Plumas County. Since then, it has grown to incorporate 2 more counties in its burn path, Lassen and Butte, threatening many inhabited areas and recreational destinations. The fire has allegedly been linked to PG&E, but the exact cause of the fire and what potential role the energy company had in its start is not yet known.

Currently, the fire has burned over 85,479 acres and is roughly 15 percent contained, with a full containment date unknown. Rugged terrain has posed challenges to crews battling the blaze as 237 engines, 42 water tenders, 22 helicopters, 74 hand crews, 56 dozers, 3,345 personnel and a number fire-fighting air tankers from throughout the state, work in tandem to suppress the spread of the fire (per CALFIRE Incident Report: https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2021/7/14/dixie-fire.).

In a broadcasted update by CALFIRE the morning of Wednesday, July 21^st, Merrick Fields with the Dixie Fire Incident Management Team 1 informed the public that we have “people working everywhere on the top end of the fire.” He shared that “critical infrastructure and homes” down in the area near Buck Lake, or Branch 1 of the fire, “are no longer threatened.” Meanwhile, CALFIRE is utilizing direct lines between the communities of Jonesville and Lionsville (Branch 5 and Branch 10 of the fire) to limit the spread and protect those communities.

The northern front of the fire is currently headed towards Butt Lake, Almanor and Canyondam areas, prompting county officials working with CALFIRE to upgrade Evacuation Warnings to Evacuation Orders. Fields says, “We’ve got 4 contingency groups in the Meadow Valley, Bucks Lake, Lake Almanor and Hwy 70 corridor with a significant amount of type 1 and 2 engines in there in the event that we have another significant movement of the fire. That way we have multiple resources in there to protect the communities at risk.”

CALFIRE is also using pre-existing dozer lines used to combat the Chip Fire to limit the forward spread of the fire towards the Lake Almanor Area.

For more information on evacuation orders/warnings, road closures and updates, please visit the following websites for the following counties. Lassen County: Lassen County Sheriff’s Office - https://tinyurl.com/sy9frpx6; Plumas County: Sheriff Dixie Fire Information- https://tinyurl.com/2t3kuv69; Butte County: Butte County Sheriff Office-  www.buttecounty.net/sheriffcoroner .