Residents in the area said the wildfire's proximity to the Camp fire has stoked reminders of that devastating blaze, which killed more than 85 people and reduced the town of Paradise to ashes. 'We have a lot of dry fuel, and that wind is really detrimental to the situation right now,' she said. The area saw heavy winds again on Friday and lightening is expected Sunday and Monday. McGuire said high winds Thursday propelled the fire's substantial growth. No homes or structures are currently threatened. The fire is burning in the scar of the 2018 Camp fire but moving north, away from populated areas, said incident spokeswoman Kimberly McGuire. That fire ignited Wednesday morning and was 9% contained Friday evening, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. By Friday night, it had grown by nearly 1,000 acres. It's the same conditions throughout California,' she said.Īlso of concern is the burgeoning Dixie fire, which more than tripled in size Thursday night to 7,947 acres. And it's not just here, it's in many areas. 'Primarily it's the dry fuels that we have, and the low humidities, that are really creating these fires,' she said, noting that this type of fire behavior isn't typically seen until August or September. The second fire, the Dotta fire, started June 30 and was 99% contained at 594 acres Friday.Ĭombined, they have burned through 105,757 acres.įire incident spokeswoman Phyllis Ashmead said California's recent heat waves and ongoing drought enabled the Sugar fire to become the first to reach 'megafire' status this year. The Sugar fire was one of two fires sparked by lightning in the forest around the same time that together have been dubbed the Beckwourth Complex fire. He said crews began removing surface fuels in the area on Friday but the terrain is 'extremely steep and rugged.'

While much of the Sugar fire's footprint has been contained, a portion of its western perimeter near Ross Canyon continues to present challenges for the team, according to Cagle.

'We used to say 'unprecedented and historic.' We're past that now.' 'These are the new norms now,' Cagle said. Forest Service Operations Section Chief Jake Cagle said the 100,000-acre 'megafire' milestone is no longer uncommon in California, which experienced a record wildfire season in 2020 and is already outpacing those numbers this year. At one point, it grew with such velocity that its massive cloud of smoke, ash and heat generated its own lightning.Īs of Friday evening, the Sugar fire had reached 105,163 acres and was 70% contained.ĭuring a morning briefing, U.S. In the days that followed, spot fires and flareups made it difficult for firefighters to gain a footing on the blaze, officials said. The lightning-sparked Sugar fire ignited July 2 and quickly swelled in size as crews battled extreme temperatures and strong gusts of wind. Sacramento Bee)Īs the Dixie fire in Butte County balloons in size, the Sugar fire burning in Plumas National Forest north of Sacramento has become the first 100,000-acre fire in California this year. A helicopter drops water on the Dixie fire on Highway 70 in the Feather River Canyon in Plumas County.