The Park Fire didn’t grow at all overnight Tuesday into Wednesday and remains at 429,263 acres. It is now 40% contained.
Cal Fire said that improving weather conditions has limited the threat of spotting and fire spread. Officials said they expected “interior islands” will continue to burn within the fire perimeter.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Tehama County Sheriff’s Office announced that zone 736 in the Loma area has a “normal” status. That area is near the heel of the fire. The TCSO also said that it reduced evacuation orders to evacuation warnings in zones 726-B and 728. These zones are in the south area of the fire, near the Butte County border.
Twelve zones within Tehama County remain under an evacuation order and they are MLC-712, MLC-714, PCK-474-B, TEH-696-D, TEH-696-E, TEH-698, TEH-716, TEH-718, TEH-720-A, TEH-720-B, TEH-720-C, and TEH-726.
To see a map of the zones, go to https://tinyurl.com/2u2w869a.
In Butte County, the state’s Incident Management Team Three has begun closing its operations at the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds and returning command of the Butte Zone of the Park Fire to Cal Fire-Butte County.
Cal Fire-Butte County Fire Chief Garrett Sjolund said at Wednesday’s operational briefing that about 540 firefighters will be assigned to Butte ” to help us button this up.”
He thanked Team 3 for helping fight the fire.
“For those who don’t know, this fire moved out quickly, 5,000 acres in an hour. We thought we were going to be able to catch it in the Vina plains — we clearly knew we couldn’t,” he said. “They answered the call at midnight. You guys were activated in here the next morning, helping us get set up.”
Road Closures
Highway 36 from Highway 172 in Mineral to the intersection with Highway 89 South in Plumas County
Highway 89 through Lassen Volcanic National Park
Highway 32 between Platt Mountain Road and Lomo in Butte County
Highway 32 between the Butte/Tehama county line and Highway 36 in Tehama County
Highway 172 in Mineral, Tehama County
Plum Creek Rd in Paynes Creek, Tehama County
According to Cal Fire, firefighters are improving and constructing direct and indirect lines in the northern parts of the fire area, removing dead trees and protecting the highways and communications infrastructure nearby.
Assistance Centers open
In conjunction with local, state, federal agencies and non-governmental organizations, Tehama County will host a local assistance center for individuals, families and businesses affected by the Park Fire on Thursday.
The event is inside the Red Bluff Community Center, 1500 S. Jackson St. According to the Tehama County Sheriff’s Office, the location will be open to people looking for additional resources and information on recovery from the Park Fire.
The center will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Thursday through Staurday, Aug. 15-17. The Park Fire has burned 113,736 acres in the Lassen National Forest, 52,937 acres in Butte County and 376,322 in Tehama County.
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