Claremont Fire 8-23-2020 AM UPDATE

Claremont and Bear – Morning Update

Acres: 11,310

Resources:  15 dozers, 36 engines, 2 hand crews, 2 helicopters, and 12 water tenders. Additional resources are on order, availability remains scarce.

Current Situation on the Claremont: The Claremont Fire remained active all night moving along Highway 70. The fire crossed the highway yesterday near the Massack Rest Area, and the highway remains CLOSED between Spring Garden and La Porte Road for the safety of residents and visitors as well as allowing efficient access for fire crews to battle the blaze. No structures were reported lost, but homes are threatened along that closed stretch of Highway 70 as well as in the Greenhorn subdivision. The Claremont Fire, now at 11,310 acres and 0% contained, is located south of Quincy, CA and north of the Middle Fork of the Feather River.

Current Situation on the Bear:

The Bear Fire advanced to the north and northeast yesterday afternoon growing to 1,078 acres. Limited resources and difficult terrain make this a challenging fire to attack, but crews have good roads to work from and are working to keep the fire up on the flats to keep it from spreading east and west. The Bear Fire is located on the Pacific Crest Trail, 1-mile northwest of Butte Bar Campground and 1.5 southeast of Lookout Rock.

Weather: RED FLAG WARNING FOR DRY THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH MONDAY EVENING. There is increasing potential for isolated to scattered dry thunderstorms over much of Northern California. Lightning from dry thunderstorms will have the potential to start new fires.

Air Quality: Numerous regional fires continue to contribute dense smoke conditions across the region. Smoke impacts to communities are expected to be greatest late in the afternoon towards the evening. For a fire and smoke map, go to https://fire.airnow.gov/

Evacuations: There are no additional evacuation orders or warnings as of 8 a.m. Quincy High School remains an Evacuation Center for local residences. No small animals are able to be accommodated at the high school. The Red Cross is currently working to establish a secondary evacuation center.

An ADVISORY Evacuation Order remains in effect for East Quincy (south of Lee Road from Radio Hill Road East), Candler Road (from HWY 70 east entrance to Hillside Drive), Greenhorn Ranch, and Spring Garden.

Mandatory evacuations remains in effect for East Quincy, south of Highway 70 between Millcreek east to La Porte Road, as well as La Porte Road from Highway 70 south to Red Bridge (Middle Fork of the Feather River)

Road Closure: Highway 70 remains CLOSED between Spring Garden and Quincy La Porte Road. La Porte Road and Thompson Creek Road remain closed. Union Pacific Railroad also has a closure affected by the fire. The Pacific Crest Trail from Onion Valley to Bucks Summit remains closed. For further information on closures go to: https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/plumas/alerts-notices

For immediate text notifications sign up for the Plumas County’s CodeRed Emergency Alert System on their website at https://www.plumascounty.us/2163/. Evacuation questions should be directed to your County Sheriff's office non-emergency number. Plumas County Sheriff’s Office: (530) 283-6375.

Visit CalTrans at quickmap.dot.ca.gov for the latest maps with road closures in your area.

COVID-19: California Interagency Incident Management Team 1 has implemented precautionary measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in both fire camp and the surrounding communities.