By Greg Welter
Chico Enterprise-Record (California)
Copyright 2007 MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers
All Rights Reserved
BUTTE CREEK CANYON, Calif. — High winds pushed flames through dry vegetation Tuesday afternoon in Butte Creek Canyon, forcing road closures and mandatory evacuations.
It was estimated the blaze would be contained at 8 a.m. today, with control of the fire expected by 6 p.m.
The Skyway, closed for more than five hours, was opened to one-way, controlled traffic at 10 p.m. Evacuations affecting up to 200 people in enclaves just north of the Skyway, including Rocky Bluffs, were lifted at 10 p.m.
Honey Run Road was to be closed all night. Honey Run residents who live within 2.5 miles of the lower Skyway were allowed to go to their homes starting at 10 p.m. to check on animals, and take care of other essential needs, but they weren’t allowed to stay.
The “Honey Fire” is the first named incident of a very young fire season.
Officials estimated it had burned at least 275 acres as darkness fell Tuesday.
About 100 acres of that total burned south of the Skyway, near the Tuscan Ridge Golf Course.
The fire started on the north side of Honey Run Road, about 100 yards east of Horse Run Lane, officials said. The spot is about half a mile from the lower Skyway. The cause of the fire remained under investigation Tuesday night.
Cal Fire-Butte County Battalion Chief Greg McFadden said the blaze burned east in a narrow path and moved too fast for bulldozers attempting to clear a line ahead of it.
The first crews on scene estimated about three acres had burned, but wind quickly pushed flames over a hill, where the fire picked up even more speed.
Residents on Honey Run Road said the fire raced past them and out of view in a few minutes.
In its wake, hot spots amid fallen trees and debris piles continued to burn, and fire in the original burn zone wasn’t declared contained until 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Honey Run Road was closed at the Skyway at 3:30 p.m. Skyway remained open, though heavy smoke was drifting across the roadway.
As the fire moved up the canyon, pushed by winds gusting to more than 30 mph, it turned slightly south, toward expensive homes in the Spanish Gardens and Rocky Bluffs communities.
California Highway Patrol officers and Butte County Sheriff’s deputies drove through the neighborhoods to make sure no homes were in imminent danger. At the time they told residents evacuations were only a possibility, and no one was asked to leave.
As the fire jumped Butte Creek beyond Spanish Gardens, and began crawling up canyon walls on the west side, the situation changed quickly.
Officers warned curious onlookers in the area to leave, primarily so their vehicles wouldn’t be in the way of responding emergency equipment.
The Skyway was closed just after 4 p.m. Traffic coming down the ridge was stopped at Skyway and Neal Road, while motorists from Chico were stopped at Bruce Road and the Skyway, and directed to Neal Road as an alternate route.
As the fire continued to rage, the possibility that smoke might close Neal Road became a concern. It remained open, but for a time was highly congested, with the CHP reporting a number of near collisions at the intersection with Highway 99.
Many motorists heading for the canyon Tuesday made a wide loop through Magalia to get home.
Sonja Johnson, who lives near the Centerville School, told the Enterprise-Record a parade of cars was passing her home at about 7 p.m. Tuesday.
In a telephone interview from her home, she said “the whole canyon” was going to Magalia and then down Nimshew Road to Centerville Road and from there to their homes.
She said the five-mile drive down Nimshew is a “really rough, rutted road. It’s a hard ride down.”
Evacuations in neighborhoods between the canyon and Skyway, initially described as voluntary, began just after 5 p.m., with officers and Cal Fire personnel going door to door.
By 5:20 p.m., residents were told an “immediate threat” was in place, and evacuations became mandatory.
Eagle Nest Drive and Oak Ridge Drive residents in the Rocky Bluffs area were the first ordered out. Eventually, evacuations were enforced throughout the Rocky Bluffs and Skansen areas.
No homes burned, but several were threatened, and firefighters on the ground had to concentrate on protecting structures, while bulldozers and an aerial attack worked on stopping the advance of the flames.
Two aerial tankers and a spotter plane, summoned from Porterville, arrived about 5 p.m. A pair of helicopters from Sonoma County arrived a bit later, and began making bucket drops with water scooped from Butte Creek.
Flames breached the Skyway shortly before 6 p.m., but the road had been closed for a couple of hours by then.
Cal Fire spokeswoman Janet Upton said more than 200 personnel responded to the incident. Equipment on the ground included 34 engines from Cal Fire, Chico, Paradise and Oroville, as well as several water tankers, a couple of inmate hand crews and a “Hot Shot” crew from the U.S. Forest Service.
Upton said several crews would remain on the fire overnight, with most working on remaining hot spots below the bluffs, west of Lookout Point.
Tuesday’s fire was fought on the ground with resources solely from Butte County, but strike teams from Nevada County and Tehama County were ordered into the area in case other fires were reported.