Evacuations extend into Tehama County this afternoon Aug. 13
Those who watch the Dixie Fire West Zone briefings know that a major priority was to keep the Dixie Fire from spreading west into Tehama County. For the past several briefings, Operations Section Chief Mark Brunton (as well as his predecessor Mike Wink), discussed the efforts to keep the fire out of the Mill Creek drainage, and said that good progress was being made.
This afternoon at 4 p.m., a mandatory evacuation order for Mill Creek was called due to an immediate threat to life. The town of Mineral is under an evacuation advisory. It’s almost inconceivable to think that a fire that began at the base of the Feather River Canyon is now a threat to Mineral.
The same could be said for Westwood, where today an urgent message went out calling for anyone remaining in that area to evacuate immediately.
Earlier today, Plumas News contributor Ken Donnell caught up with District 2 Supervisor Kevin Goss to talk about areas in Indian Valley, where the fire is very active along Diamond Mountain Road. When asked about his overall assessment of the fire, Donnell quotes Goss as saying, “Pray for Clear Creek. Pray for Westwood. Pray for Hamilton Branch. Pray for Chester.”
Current information is difficult to access and particularly now, since the communication lines have been damaged. But the Chester Fire Protection District posted late this afternoon that no structures had been lost.
A community briefing is scheduled for this evening at 7:30 p.m. It will be broadcast on the Plumas and Lassen national forests Facebook pages and is also available via Zoom.
