Thompson Fire cancels Fourth of July festivities in Oroville
OROVILLE — The Fourth of July looks quite different for the Butte County city of Oroville this year. The Thompson Fire is still burning and crews are working around the clock to get it fully contained.
Independence Day celebrations were limited. The fireworks are canceled, the lake is closed and the marinas are closed. Most people chose to celebrate at Riverbend Park, west of the evacuation zones and along the Feather River.
"Our plans were to go watch the fireworks this weekend at the forebay, but we ended up having to come here and BBQ instead," said Oroville resident Kevin Crone.
When we called the state park number for the Oroville recreation area, we were met with a voicemail stating closures were in place until further notice.
The City of Oroville already enforced a temporary ban on fireworks due to conditions from the fire.
"The last thing we need is somebody who's purchased fireworks from a local fire stand going out and doing something stupid," Buute County Sheriff Kory Honea said. "Don't be an idiot, cause a fire, and create more problems for us. No one in the community is going to want that and we certainly don't want that."
According to California State Parks, the Bridwell, Loafer Creek and Lime Saddle areas will be open for use starting Friday. However, Birma, the spillway and Brad Freeman are still being used by fire crews and have sustained damage from the fire, so they'll be assessing those areas and they'll be closed until further notice.
Several evacuation orders were downgraded on Thursday.