Current Situation

South Zone:

Firefighters completed the ignitions along the dozer line that parallels the LaPorte Road. Operational resources were planning to go direct with the fire perimeter near Quartz Hill. However, adverse winds have shifted tactics to firing off the constructed dozer line later tonight if conditions allow.

North Zone:

Crews contained a slop over near Red Mountain Road and they will continue to mop up and patrol that fire perimeter area. Resources have been waiting for favorable winds along Grizzly Big Creek and south of Grizzly Forebay so no ignitions were conducted during the day but operations are hoping conditions will align over the next 1-2 shifts.

When the time comes for residents to return home, please drive with caution as firefighters and incident personnel will still be working and patrolling the fire perimeter.

For more information there is a daily recorded operational briefing video that will be posted to the Plumas National Forest Facebook Page at 9 a.m.

West Zone: See CAL FIRE Team 4 updates at: www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2020/8/18/north-complex-fire/

Evacuations and Road Closures

Orders and Advisories are still in place for communities in Butte, Plumas, and Yuba Counties. Please check your respective county’s websites and Facebook pages for the latest updates on evacuations and road closures. You can also sign up with your county for reverse 911 notifications by registering with the CODE RED system.

Weather and Air Quality

Nighttime conditions will be similar to the past few nights with temperatures ranging from 38 to 42 degrees in valleys and drainages and 45 to 51 degrees on slopes and ridges. Forecast for tonight is slightly warmer, indicating slightly greater cloud cover.

Click on the Related Information link below to view the latest evacuation news from the Butte County Sheriff's Office.

Fire

The North Complex Fire grew 3,101 acres and is now 294,301 acres at 64% containment. The fire remained active in a few places yesterday with interior burning and smoldering, but crews continued to make progress increasing containment. Today expect similar fire activity due to a moderate risk environment from mild temperatures and low relative humidity.

Smoke

Smoke and air quality conditions yesterday stayed in the USG to Unhealthy ranges throughout most of the forecasted area in the Sierras and Moderate East of the Sierras. Today, expect the same air quality as yesterday due to stagnant air from less wind and very little lifting of smoke. Communities in the forecasted area on the east side of the sierras will stay in the moderate ranges. Grass Valley and Oroville will see air quality in the Unhealthy ranges. Communities in the Sierras will see air quality in the moderate to USG ranges with Quincy getting into periods of Unhealthy ranges.

H & S

Wildfire smoke is a mix of gases and fine particles from burning vegetation, building materials, and other materials. Wildfire smoke can make anyone sick. Even someone who is healthy can get sick if there is enough smoke in the air. Breathing in smoke can have immediate health effects, and can mimic COVID symptoms such as headaches, trouble breathing and fatigue. If you have a fever, seek medical attention.

For more information on Smoke and COVID-19 go to: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Lfc1I_PMZFAWZack2cqtUlBmBXLpve0Q/view

Click on the Related Information link below to view the latest evacuation news from the Plumas County Sheriff's Office.

Current Situation

South Zone:

Planned night firing operations parallel to LaPorte Road did not take place last night as the window for favorable conditions diminished. Other ignitions that had taken place earlier yesterday were monitored throughout the night and patrolled with no significant changes. Approximately 3 miles of containment line was added around Little Grass Valley, which is represented in black on the incident map. Day shift resources will attempt to carry-out ignitions near the Pacific Crest Trail and along the dozer line parallel to LaPorte Road.

North Zone:

Night shift completed the ignitions along Red Mountain Road and today, resources will be monitoring and patrolling the line. Ignitions were not favorable for the night shift along Grizzly Big Creek but the day shift will attempt firing operations later today.

Thank you for your patience and support throughout the incident, especially in the mandatory evacuation areas. When the time comes for repopulation of communities on the north and south zone, we ask everyone to be mindful of traffic on the roadways with the influx of returning residents and fire personnel who will still be working in the area.

For more information there is a daily recorded operational briefing video that will be posted to the Plumas National Forest Facebook Page at 9 a.m.

West Zone: See CAL FIRE Team 4 updates at: www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2020/8/18/north-complex-fire/

Evacuations and Road Closures

Orders and Advisories are still in place for communities in Butte, Plumas, and Yuba Counties. Please check your respective county’s websites and Facebook pages for the latest on evacuations and road closures. You can also sign up with your county for reverse 911 notifications by registering with the CODE RED system.

Weather and Air Quality

Today’s temperatures will be heavily dependent on cloud cover. If we stay mostly sunny, expect conditions a degree or two warmer and if enough clouds develop, expect a degree or two cooler than Sunday. Temperatures will be in the range of 74-78 degrees with winds generally out of the southwest.

Smoke outlook: fires.airfire.org/outlooks/EasternSierra or www.airnow.gov/

Plumas National Forest, forest-wide closure: https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/plumas/alerts-notices

Current Situation

South Zone:

Firing operations along the Pacific Crest Trail have been completed and night shift will be nearing completion along the dozer line that parallels LaPorte Road. This firing needs to be completed and secured before there is repopulation of Little Grass Valley and the Community of LaPorte.

North Zone:

Ignitions were not favorable for the day shift along Grizzly Big Creek but the night shift will have the conditions to carry out the firing operations. A portion of Red Mountain Road was lit earlier today and firing operations will continue into tonight.

Thank you for your patience and support throughout the incident, especially in the mandatory evacuated areas. The ignitions on the south and north zones need to be completed and entirely secured, which we are expecting within the next 1-2 days, before we can ensure residents can return home without having to leave a second time.

For more information there is a daily recorded operational briefing video that will be posted to the Plumas National Forest Facebook Page at 9 a.m.

West Zone: See CAL FIRE Team 4 updates at: www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2020/8/18/north-complex-fire/

Evacuations and Road Closures

Orders and Advisories are still in place for communities in Butte, Plumas, and Yuba Counties. Please check your respective county’s websites and Facebook pages for the latest on evacuations and road closures. You can also sign up with your county for reverse 911 notifications by registering with the CODE RED system.

Weather and Air Quality

Another chilly night ahead with temperatures ranging from 35-52 degrees, it will be particularly cold in the valleys due to the clear skies and downslope and down valley terrain winds. Humidity should recover well again but not quite as well as previous nights.

Fire

The North Complex Fire grew 1,249 acres and is now 291,200 acres at 62% containment. The fire remained active in a few places yesterday, but crews continued to make progress

increasing containment. Today expect similar fire activity as yesterday due to a moderate risk environment from moderate temperatures and consistent relative humidity.

Smoke

Smoke and air quality conditions yesterday overall were in the good to moderate ranges all day. Today expect worse air quality due to stagnant air due to less wind and very little lifting of smoke. Quincy and Oroville will see worse air quality in the area with Unhealthy ranges. Portola, Grass Valley and

Truckee will see conditions in the USG ranges and all other communities in the Moderate to USG ranges.

H & S

When you see smoke it is usually the large particles like PM10 that you are seeing. While this is not good to breathe in, it is usually filtered by our human body microscopic hairs called cilia that create mucus. It is the small particles of PM2.5 and smaller that our body doesn't filter and when the cilia are overworked and goes directly into our bloodstream. The PM2.5 is what we monitor for during a wildfire smoke event.

Current Situation

South Zone:

The firing operations conducted along Cleghorn Road were successful with desired effects of fuel consumption. There were some spot fires that were detected but they were quickly identified and contained by firefighters. Containment lines continue to hold from Sly Creek Reservoir to Onion Valley as well as along the eastern portion around east Quincy, crews will continue to monitor and patrol these areas.

North Zone:

This morning crews will assess the conditions to determine continuing with firing operations along Grizzly Bear Creek. Resources will also be looking to light approximately 1.5 miles along Red Mountain Road. With the favorable weather, the plan is to use aircraft again to assist ground resources in detecting and containing any new spot fires.

For more information, two daily recorded operational briefing videos are posted to the Plumas National Forest Facebook Page at 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.

West Zone: See CAL FIRE Team 4 updates at: www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2020/8/18/north-complex-fire/

Evacuations and Road Closures

Orders and Advisories are still in place for communities in Butte, Plumas, and Yuba Counties. Please check your respective county’s websites and Facebook pages for the latest on evacuations and road closures. You can also sign up with your county for reverse 911 notifications by registering with the CODE RED system.

Weather and Air Quality

A warming and drying trend will continue with temperatures moving upwards. Look for relative humidity to dip a bit more again, with the driest spots seeing a minimum RH around 20%. Expect general winds to be from the southwest and light to moderate, meaning terrain will again strongly influence local winds.

Smoke outlook: fires.airfire.org/outlooks/EasternSierra or www.airnow.gov/

Plumas National Forest, forest-wide closure: https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/plumas/alerts-notices

Current Situation

South Zone:

There were no holding issues with the fire perimeter along the Sly Creek Reservoir to Onion Valley, it will continue to be monitored and patrolled. Priority of resources have begun to shift towards the firing operations along Cleghorn Road, west of LaPorte Road. Day shift resources began ignitions and night shift will continue firing if conditions remain favorable. The eastern portion of the fire continues to hold within containment lines, residual smoke from burning stump holes or heavy logs may be observed within the interior.

North Zone:

With the clearer weather today, aircraft were available to assist ground resources with the few spot fires around Red Mountain Road. The constructed line through Grizzly Big Creek to the south of Grizzly Forebay was tied into previous line from the Bucks Fire back into Oro Quincy Road and the plan is to have night shift conduct ignitions along Grizzly Big Creek. This will secure the eastern portion which will reduce the threat to structures around Bucks Lake, Highlands, Haskins, Meadow Valley and Tollgate.    

West Zone: See CAL FIRE Team 4 updates at: www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2020/8/18/north-complex-fire/

Twice daily video operational updates are available to watch on the Plumas National Forest Facebook Page, and once daily Zoom broadcasts of Planning and Cooperator meetings on Inciweb (links above).

Evacuations and Road Closures

Orders and Advisories are still in place for communities in Butte, Plumas, and Yuba Counties. Please check your respective county’s websites and Facebook pages for the latest on evacuations and road closures. You can also sign up with your county for reverse 911 notifications by registering with the CODE RED system.

Weather and Air Quality

Mostly clear skies and light, terrain-driven winds will make for another chilly night across the area. Look for cold air to pool in the valleys, with temperatures in the mid-30s to around 40 degrees. Higher slopes are expected to stay a bit warmer, with lows closer to 50 degrees.

Smoke outlook: fires.airfire.org/outlooks/EasternSierra or www.airnow.gov/

Plumas National Forest, forest-wide closure: https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/plumas/alerts-notices

Current information on fire situation in Yuba County foothills
1:00 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 19

FIRE HAS JUMPED THE LINE RESIDENTS SHOULD LEAVE EVACUATION AREA:
Evacuations north and east of where New York House Road meets La Porte Road that have been in place for the past several days, and the fire has again begun to move toward that region.  The fire flared up and moved across the fire line, just north of the Yuba County border. Residents who never left the evacuation zone need to leave that area immediately. Additional firefighting resources have been called in to battle the blaze. We will update you as we get more details. 

For more information, please visit the Yuba County Emergency Information Page.