Some evacuation orders lifted at Rices Fire in Northern California as crews contain blaze
Firefighters lifted a number of evacuation orders on the Rices Fire Thursday evening, as the blaze stalled throughout the day.
The wildfire, which is burning in northwest Nevada County, has charred 904 acres in total with minimal spread through the day Thursday, according to a Thursday evening incident report. Firefighters have now contained 20% of the blaze, up from 12% in the morning.
In a news conference Thursday evening, officials said that they were “excited” but that crews were “not yet in the clear.” Officials were able to lift evacuation orders in two zones — NCO-E383 and NCO-E029-A, in the Buttermilk and French Corral areas — and maintained evacuation orders in two other zones in the Bridgeport and French Corral areas.
Five additional zones in Nevada County and two zones in Yuba County remain under an evacuation warning.
Mary Eldridge, a spokeswoman for the Cal Fire Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit, said Thursday morning that the initial attack on the Rices Fire and the work firefighters had done under “strenuous conditions” and “treacherous terrain, climbing around rocks to dig out fires” had given them the upper hand.
“Now, it’s time to tighten the lines around the fire. They’ve stopped forward progress,” Eldridge said.
Thirteen firefighters have been injured — all had suffered heat illness-related injuries such as dehydration, Eldridge said. One structure has been destroyed, and 250 remain threatened.
Evacuation centers are open at the Madelyn Helling Library, 980 Helling Way, Nevada City; and for animals at the Nevada County Fairgrounds, 11310 McCourtney Road, Grass Valley. Brown said about 10 people were staying at the library on Wednesday, and 118 animals were being cared for at the fairgrounds.
The fire, which began about 2 p.m. Tuesday near Rice’s Crossing Road in the North San Juan area, has destroyed four buildings, which included one central building and three nearby outbuildings.
Cal Fire Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit Chief Brian Estes has said the Rices Fire began with a burning uninhabitable building, which spread to nearby vegetation. He said the cause of that structure fire remained under investigation.
Officials initially estimated firefighters would fully contain the fire by Friday, but Estes on Wednesday called that an “optimistic” goal. Cal Fire now expects to have full containment of the fire by Sunday. But the area was “far from being out of the woods.”
This story was originally published June 30, 2022 at 8:58 AM with the headline "Some evacuation orders lifted at Rices Fire in Northern California as crews contain blaze."
