Crews closing in on full containment of Gold Complex fires in Plumas County

PLUMAS COUNTY – Firefighters have nearly full containment of the Gold Complex fire in Plumas County, as of Wednesday morning. 

California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a state of emergency Friday evening for the counties of Plumas, Butte and Tehama due to the Gold Complex and Park fires, which had a combined burn area of 181,000 acres at the time.

Mandatory evacuations were issued near and around the Portola area of Plumas County. Zone PLU-113-A remains in an evacuation order on Wednesday, which is in the area where the Mill Fire perimeter is. 

Four separate lightning-sparked fires initially made up the Gold Complex fires. Some of those fires merged and are now known as the Mill and Smith fires.

The Smith Fire was burning north of Highway 70 between Smith Peak and Maybe. The Mill Fire is burning near Whitehawk Ranch. Together, the Gold Complex is 98% contained as of Wednesday, July 31.

The Park Fire was burning north through Butte and Tehama, but evacuation warnings were issued for western Plumas County due to the path of the flames.

Lightning activity

CBS13 Chief Meterololigst Nic Merianos caught a lightning strike followed by a smoke plume on radar at about 2:30 p.m. on July 22. Merianos said the storm produced up to 2.5 inches of rain just east of Whitehawk and triggered a Flash Flood Warning through that evening.

In:
• Plumas County