Thursday July 23, A.M. update: - CAL FIRE NEU: Firefighters made good progress overnight. The Mooney fire near Mooney Flat Road and Highway 20 in Penn Valley, Nevada County is now 65% contained by firefighters.
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Original report below:
Cal Fire crews were hard at work at the scene of the Mooney Fire burning near Mooney Flat Road in Smartsville on the afternoon of Wednesday, July 22. As of press time Wednesday, the fire is reported to be holding at 25 acres, with forward progress stopped and containment at around 25%, according to Cal Fire NEU.
At approximately 1:25 p.m., fire officials responded to reports of a vegetation fire at the intersections of Lombardi Road and Kirk Way in Smartsville that was said to be burning at a dangerous rate of spread, per Cal Fire Incident Command. The fire was initially mapped at 0.5 acres, with multiple spot fires also present when officials arrived on scene. By 1:40 p.m., officials reported the fire had quickly expanded to 2 acres, and a series of road closures along Highway 20 near Wild Turkey Lane in Smartsville had been requested for crews to navigate the scene.
With crews on the scene by 2 p.m., the fire had amassed 15 acres. Numerous spot fires near the blaze’s perimeter brought the acreage up to 25 acres total. During the fire a mandatory level three evacuation order for zone NCO-E010, with additional level two evacuation warnings for zones NCO-E011, NCO-E012, NCO-E017, NCO-E150, YUB-E045, and YUB-E063, were put in place.
An outbuilding was the only structure lost in Wednesday's Mooney Fire, as reported by Cal Fire at about 3:30 p.m.
In addition to the temporary road closure off Wild Turkey Lane, the Mooney Fire had also caused widespread power outages for over 4,100 customers in the greater Penn Valley, Rough and Ready, and Smartsville areas, which was later restored around 4:30 p.m.
Chute Fire update
The rapid spread of the Mooney Fire near the Nevada and Yuba County lines comes off the heels of the Chute Fire near Dobbins, which has was first reported Monday July 13 as a 50x50 spot off of the 10,000 block of Marysville Road.
After a swift initial attack, the Chute Fire's activity was minimal and the incident was removed from the local incidents. Nearly a week later a re-ignition on the Chute Fire was reported and by Monday July 20 the fire was mapped at 15-20 acres.
By Wednesday July 22, the Chute Fire had grown to 84 acres with 11% containment as of press time. Crews are working hard to contain the blaze amidst its difficult location in the Yuba Canyon, an area known for notoriously steep terrain only accessible by foot.
"Today will focus heavily on containment line construction, with crews building hand line in the steep, rugged terrain," Cal Fire NEU officials said Wednesday morning. "Cooler temperatures and favorable weather conditions are expected to support strong progress before a warming trend later this week brings the potential for increased fire behavior."
At least two firefighter injuries occurred the first occurring on Monday July 13 requiring a Washington Ridge hand crew member to be hoisted out of the canyon, and another Tuesday July 21 when a firefighter experiencing flu like symptoms required a hoist out of the canyon from helicopter 601.
"Difficult access continues to challenge firefighting operations, requiring crews to balance aggressive suppression efforts with safe operations in the steep, rugged terrain," Cal Fire NEU officials added.
Sacramento Regional Type 3 Incident Management Team assumed command of the Chute Fire Wednesday morning.
A 43 acre firing operation on the Chute Fire Wednesday evening was deemed a success and consisted of intentionally setting a fire to consume unspent fuel in the path of fire's growth. This raised the acreage of the fire to 125 but increased containment to 15%.
For information on the latest fires happening around California, visit https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents.