Dixie Fire roars on; Fly Fire threatens

It’s the morning of July 23 and the greater portion of Plumas County is under some sort of evacuation order or warning.
A steady parade of cars made its way along Highway 70 as the evacuation warnings crept their way through Indian Valley and then up the Canyon to Quincy, where, as of this morning all of west Quincy is under an evacuation advisory due to the Fly Fire, which broke out late yesterday afternoon in Butterfly Valley.
This fire is considered separate from the Dixie Fire, which as of this morning is at 142,940 acres with 18 percent containment. The Fly Fire is 1,650 acres and 0 percent containment. Last evening crews quickly diverted from the Bucks Lake area to assist with the Fly Fire.
Meantime evacuees from the Lake Almanor area have filled the Chester Memorial Hall. An evacuation center is open at Springs of Hope church on Bell Lane in Quincy.
The Dixie Fire continues on two major fronts – toward the West Shore of Lake Almanor and the communities of Bucks Lake and Meadow Valley.
Last evening it was reported that the fire has progressed past Humbug, and crews are looking are now looking at Humboldt Road to halt the fire. The fire as reached Butt Lake, but it’s holding on the shoreline. Some spot fires were quickly accessed.
Conditions for spot fires are ripe with bone dry fuel, hot dry weather and winds, as exemplified by what happened with the Fly Fire.
Elsewhere on the fire, the community of Twain got a spot fire yesterday. Fire behavior modeling continues to travel and have short-range spotting and now is very near where the Caribou transmission lines come down. Quincy residents were alerted last night that they should be prepared to lose power, and it could be out for some time.
This story will continue to be updated as more information becomes available.