Butte County Sheriff Issues Fire Evacuation Orders For North Complex West Zone

BUTTE COUNTY (CBS SF) -- The sheriff's office in Butte County on Sunday night issued immediate evacuation orders for Pulga, Concow, Big Bend and Yankee Hill due to the North Complex West Zone fire.

The evacuation orders were issued shortly before 9 p.m. Sunday.

About an hour later, additional evacuation warnings were issued for the areas of Stirling City, Magalia, and Clark Road from the Paradise town limits south to Hwy 70 and east to Lake Oroville.

While earlier authorities had said that fire lines in the area northwest of Berry Creek were holding, but late afternoon new fire activity was visible from large plumes of smoke as growing winds stoked the fire.

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Already the deadliest wildfire this year, the North Complex has claimed 15 lives -- 13 in the devastated community of Berry Creek -- and has destroyed 2,342 structures.

Before Red Flag winds whipped new life into the blaze, an army of more than 3,000 firefighters had gained 78 percent containment of the fire that has consumed 305,188 acres in a region near Lake Oroville. Concow was nearly destroyed in the deadly and destructive 2018 Camp Fire.