REDDING, Calif. — Cal Fire says the Mountain Fire in Shasta County is now 70 percent contained.
The fire is still 600 acres. Cal Fire posted on its Facebook page saying all evacuations and road closures are lifted. 7 structures have been destroyed by this fire. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
We will continue to post updates on this article.
(UPDATE 8/25 10:00 am)
Cal Fire says the Mountain Fire in Shasta County is still 600 acres.
It is now 50 percent contained. Evacuations and road closures are still in place. 7 structures have been destroyed by this fire.
We will continue to post updates on this article.
(UPDATE 8/24 10:00 am)
Fire officials said that at least seven structures had gone up in flames from the Mountain Fire in Shasta County by Friday morning. Another structure was reportedly damaged.
The news was not all bad, however. Fire officials said that they had the 600-acre fire up to 40 percent contained after firefighters worked through the night to keep the fire from growing and threatening more homes.
Cal Fire said that the north side of the fire presents the biggest challenge due to increased south winds and steep, rugged terrain and damage assessment is ongoing.
#MountainFire off Bear Mountain Road and Dry Creek Road, north of Bella Vista in Shasta County is 600 acres and 40% contained. Evacuations and road closures in place. https://t.co/atVw5Lam2X pic.twitter.com/PO9NDHmg9c
— CAL FIRE (@CAL_FIRE) August 23, 2019
The Shasta County Sheriff's Office estimated that more 3,800 people had been evacuated by late Thursday afternoon, with upwards of 1,000 structures threatened by fire. There were two reported injuries, but both people were treated and released from the hospital.
Cal Fire first put out a notice to the public about the fire around noon on Thursday, when it was only considered to cover about 20 acres near the community of Bella Vista, northeast of Redding. Within less than an hour, the Shasta County Sheriff's Office had issued evacuation warnings to people living in the area.
Please see #MountainFire road closure information below. https://t.co/D8aBpc2Nmv
— CAL FIRE (@CAL_FIRE) August 22, 2019
Roughly an hour after that, fire officials said that the Mountain Fire had grown to hundreds of acres, with evacuations continuing to spread.
Initially, evacuees were told to go to Shasta College, a few miles west of Bella Vista. Then, authorities moved the evacuation center to Crosspointe Community Church in Redding as administrators at Shasta College closed the campus and told students and staff to evacuate "in an orderly fashion."
#MountainFire Evacuation Center moved to Crosspointe community Church located at 2960 Hartnell Rd., Redding, CA https://t.co/aYOpz7K6fG
— Shasta Co. Sheriff (@ShastaSheriff) August 22, 2019
By roughly 5:30 p.m., fire officials said that the fire burned on 600 acres, was not at all contained, and the cause remained under investigation.
This is a developing story, and NewsWatch 12 will update the article as more details emerge.
