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These are our fires which while bad, have not created the devstation that has happend in Napa and Sonoma COunties. There is a third fire this afternoon that is threatening lower Paradise. Note in the article that Fire says electrical lines caused the blazes.
Wind-whipped wildfires spark north, south of Oroville
By Andre Byik, abyik@chicoer.com, @andrebyik on Twitter
10/09/17, 6:48 AM PDT
Oroville >> Strong winds and dry vegetation fueled a duo of fires in Butte County that residents and officials say have already destroyed multiple homes, businesses and outbuildings.
The fires, one burning in the Cherokee area north of Oroville and the other burning farther south in Bangor, outpaced strained firefighters who responded to multiple reports of fires Sunday night and Monday morning.
Mary Ann Aldrich, a spokeswoman for Cal Fire-Butte County, said strong winds — with gusts reaching 50 mph — knocked over power lines and caused a string a fires that broke out over a short period of time.
It quickly became clear, Aldrich said, that there were more fires than firefighters needed to contain them. And while many small fires were put out, two got away from the fire agency, pushed by howling winds and helped along by dry brush and other vegetation.
Seasonal weather conditions, the spokeswoman said, create the “perfect storm in October to have very large, destructive fires.”
Additional fire resources were expected to arrive throughout the day Monday and into the week. Strong winds also were expected Monday before dying down and picking back up Thursday.
By Monday afternoon, a fire that broke out about 9:45 p.m. Sunday off Cherokee Road and Zonalea Lane, near Table Mountain, had grown to 7,500 acres and was 20 percent contained.
The fire — named the Cherokee Fire — burned west toward Highway 70 and created a smoke cloud that turned the sky red for morning commuters. The major highway was closed for a time Monday morning.
At least three outbuildings or agriculture structures were reported destroyed. And no injuries had been reported.
Evacuation orders had been issued for the west side of Cherokee Road from Derrick Road to Red Tape Road, Table Mountain Boulevard from Cottonwood Road to Highway 70, Coal Canyon Road and Table Mountain Ranch Road.
A second devastating fire that sparked in Bangor near La Porte Road and Oro Bangor Highway had grown to 3,500 acres and was zero percent contained.
Evacuation orders had been issued for Dunstone Drive from Foothill Boulevard to Lower Honcut Road, Los Verjeles Road from La Porte Road to Marysville Road in Yuba County, La Porte Road from Lower Honcut Road to Yuba County line and the four corners west to Honcut.
Evacuation warnings are in place from Cox Lane to Highway 70 and everything south to the county line.
That fire — named the La Porte Fire — burned at least 15 buildings, with residents saying Monday morning that they had neighbors who lost their homes in the blaze that burned fiercely and gave little warning for escape.
At a Red Cross evacuation center set up at the Church of the Nazarene, 2238 Monte Vista Ave., Oroville, one longtime Bangor resident said she and her family narrowly escaped flames that had quickly surrounded her property on Gold Pan Court.
“It was fast,” said Eileen McAtee, 76. “At 10 o’clock at night there was no sign of anything.”
Then came the smell of smoke. And then the flames.
“And the wind was blowing so hard,” she said. “The wind was just whipping those flames.”
The family loaded into two small sedans and mounted their escape. In the parking lot of the evacuation center Monday, McAtee was with her dogs, Sophia, Izzy and Maddie, and her companions noted an evacuation scar sustained by one of their cars — a boiled taillight.
The fire at least got to a shed and truck on McAtee’s property. And the blaze, she said, destroyed a new neighbor’s house. McAtee’s home, she later learned, was spared.
Other evacuees told similar stories of harrowing escapes.
Several Bangor residents described encountering a rapidly-spreading fire that burned homes and businesses along Los Verjeles Road, near the town’s four corners.
Beth Prusinski, 65, said she escaped with her husband Frank and two others in a couple of pickups as the fire suddenly exploded, illuminating the night sky but spreading smoke all over.
“It was hard seeing to get out,” Beth said.
“We had to literally go through the flames,” Frank said.
The Prusinskis were able to gather some of their pets in the getaway. They were forced to abandon a horse, but not before opening a gate and letting the animal free.
And the couple had celebrated their 44th anniversary over the weekend.
“Now we gotta start all over again,” Frank said, highlighting his skepticism that his home was still standing.
Recounting the escape Monday, Frank addressed a nearby companion who had recently moved to the area.
“Welcome to Bangor,” he said. “The hottest little town. Literally.”
Butte County Chief Administrative Officer Paul Hahn has declared a local emergency, which the Board of Supervisors is expected to ratify Tuesday. That could make the county eligible of state and federal aid.
A fire is also burning just across the Yuba County line near Loma Rica. The Cascade Fire is up to 7,200 acres. And farther south in Nevada County, there are two fires near Rough and Ready: the 700-acre Lobo Fire and the 150-acre McCourtney Fire.
The La Porte and Cherokee fires add to a destructive fire season in Butte County.
In July, the Wall Fire that burned in the foothills north of Bangor destroyed more than 40 homes and charred 6,000 acres.
And in August and September the 4,000-acre Ponderosa Fire destroyed more than 30 homes northwest of Forbestown near Feather Falls.
“We’ve had our share this year,” McAtee, the Bangor resident, said.
http://www.orovillemr.com/general-news/20171009/wind-whipped-wildfires-spark-north-south-of-oroville
Michael Savage was speculating that this might be terror since all of these fires were started at about the same time.
Thousands of homes are gone. Many neighborhoods in Santa ROsa and Napa have been devastated, a few completely wiped out. Money didn’t buy safety, either - two of the most exclusive million-dollar home subdivisions in Santa Rosa and Napa that were built on hillsides for the views were devastated, along with lower-income neighborhoods right in downtown in Santa Rosa ... many remote multi-million dollar ranches and vineyards have also been damaged or wiped out outright...this kind of thing is common in Southern California, but no one has seen this kind of thing around here ... yes there are occassional mountain wind-driven localized fires, but this hit overnight all over the Napa-Sonoma County mountain terrain - 40-50 mph winds caused trees to fall down on power lines sparking fires, really anything that caused sparks created a fire due to the conditions ... in parts of Nap[a Valley there was aliteral wall of flame coming down off the mountains towards the valley ... awful ... we’re in the Sacramento Valley away from the affected area but we know families that lost everything ... one woman texted us this morning that her neighbors house was on fire at 0800 AM when they fled .. sadly it looks like her entire subdivision was wiped off the map ...