State of emergency issued for Gold Complex fires in Plumas County
PLUMAS COUNTY – The Gold Complex fires in Plumas County have burned more than 3,000 acres as of Friday.
California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a state of emergency 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 as of early Friday evening.
For the Gold Complex fires, a mandatory evacuation order was still in place Friday for Plumas zone 113m which is located along the southern border of the county directly south of Portola.
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 was only 11% contained as of Friday evening.
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 Monday. 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.
