Evacuation orders and warnings lifted for Junes Fire
BUTTE COUNTY, Calif. (NBC, KYMA/KECY) - Evacuation orders and warnings were lifted for the Junes Fire burning in California's Butte County on Saturday.
Cal Fire said the blaze has burned 1,056 acres and is 50% contained as of Sunday morning, and crews are continuing to work on full control and containment.
The Butte County Sheriff's Office (BCSO) issuing an evacuation order around 4:00pm as the Junes Fire quickly spread.
"Primarily when we have a fire that we may not be able to catch just because of the speed that it's moving? Yeah, we start looking really far out in front of it to find out what it is that we need to do. So it becomes less about the firefight than it does about the public safety."
Isaac Ruiz, Battalion Chief, Cal Fire
At least two structures damaged in the blaze as fire crews using a number of resources to battle the flames.
"It takes a lot, even for 1000 acres. So, we had law enforcement from Butte County Sheriff's Office, CHP. We had four chief officers from Cal Fire, 24 fire engines, four water tenders, two air tankers, two helicopters and three bulldozers and four cal fire hand crews. We know that the origin was on four Junes Road and that would be right off to my left near that residence."
Isaac Ruiz, Battalion Chief, Cal Fire
A dozer line created to block the fire from further spreading and evacuation orders lifted.
"Just because the fire's not actively moving anymore, it doesn't mean that we're done because Cal Fire's policy is to put out every single last bit of smoke out there and to check the entire fire, every square foot. So that's what we'll be doing. We'll be doing the mop up phase and putting out the hotspots and really just standing by, just in case something else is to happen that this thing doesn't get away from us"
Isaac Ruiz, Battalion Chief, Cal Fire