Ponderosa Fire: Evacuations ordered for vegetation fire in Yuba County
By Lindsay Weber
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BANGOR, California (KCRA) — Cal Fire crews are working to contain a fire that sparked in an area with steep and dense terrain and prompted evacuations in Yuba County on Sunday.
Crews responded to the Ponderosa Fire just after 3 p.m. in an area north of Marysville Road and east of Willow Glen in the Dobbins area.
Cal Fire said the fire had a dangerous rate of spread and was threatening structures.
Several evacuations were ordered in the area. A map of evacuation zones identifies an evacuation point at Alcouffe Center in Oregon House, located at 9185 Marysville Road.
Officials told KCRA 3’s Andres Valle that around 1,500 residents were under evacuation orders or warnings.
Under an evacuation warning, residents are advised of a potential threat to life and property. There is a potential for a warning to be upgraded to an evacuation order, when residents need to immediately evacuate an area due to an imminent threat.
Cal Fire said steep, difficult terrain was the main challenge for fire crews.
Photos from Cal Fire around 4 p.m. showed a thick gray plume of smoke rising from an area of thick brush, which could fuel the flames.
LiveCopter 3 was over the area just before dusk and a thick haze was shrouding the surrounding area.
At 4 p.m., Cal Fire said the fire had spread to 12 acres. By 8:05 p.m., Cal Fire said it had spread to 87 acres.
“It’s a rugged, steep terrain, mountainous areas. It’s definitely where the fire started. Is all dirt roads, limited access, and very, very difficult to get to. So it took the crews an extended period of time to gain entry and actually start their firefight,” said Chris Baldoni, a battalion chief with Cal Fire Nevada.
Baldoni added that three Cal Fire nighttime flying helicopters will be monitoring the fire overnight.
“I’m confident that we won’t have any further growth. But there’s still a lot of unknowns out there that we’re dealing with,” said Baldoni.
Just before 10 p.m., Cal Fire said the fire was 17% contained. Containment itself refers to a barrier, whether it be natural or manmade, that helps prevent a wildfire from spreading.
The cause of the fire is unknown.
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