The the entire west shore of Lake Almanor is being evacuated as the Dixie Fire continues to explode in size. Wednesday morning the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office issued a mandatory evacuation order for the west shore of Lake Almanor including the Canyon Dam area. The east shore of Lake Almanor is under an evacuation warning, including the Town of Chester. The Dixie Fire has burned 85,500 acres as of Wednesday morning, and it could advance another 2 to 3 miles Wednesday. Containment is still just 15%. The fire may have been started by PGE&E equipment on July 13th. The blaze is burning northeast of the Town of Paradise, where the 2018 Camp Fire that was started by PG&E equipment killed 85 people. Huge Pyrocumulous clouds have been forming every day and creating its own weather system, then when the column can no longer sustain the weight it collapses, creating extremely hazardous conditions for firefighters on the ground, as well as aircraft. 810 structures are threatened and two have been destroyed. Many evacuation orders and warnings are in effect, coordinated by the Butte, Plumas and Lassen County Sheriff’s Departments. A number of roads are closed, including a long stretch of Highway 70. The Dixie Fire is under unified command by both Cal-Fire and the U.S. Forest Service.
A fire in the Plumas National Forest is nearly defeated. The lighting-sparked Sugar Fire and Dotta Fire make up the Beckwourth Complex, which has grown just slightly to 105,670 acres, now with 90% containment.