A fast-moving wildfire that ignited in Dutch Flat Saturday afternoon has led to mandatory evacuations in two Northern California counties.
The Dutch Fire started along Lowell Hill Road near the Dutch Flat Forebay dam in Nevada County around 3:30 p.m. and was burning with a moderate spread near the Placer County border, according to Cal Fire’s Nevada-Yuba-Placer unit.
By 6:30 p.m., the fire had burned along the timber at a dangerous rate and reached an area of ​​45 acres, according to Cal Fire. The fire was spotted before the fire on infrared maps from the FIRIS platform operated by the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services and Cal Fire.
As firefighters responded to the scene and with air resources, authorities in both provinces called for evacuations.
The Placer County Sheriff’s Office ordered a mandatory evacuation of Zone 1 in most of Dutch Flat, a Placer community of nearly 200 residents. The order came around 5 p.m. after officers issued evacuation warnings in the hills north of Interstate 80 on the road to Truckee and Lake Tahoe.
Dutch Flat No. 2 Forebay, which has a 75-foot-high earthen dam and has been part of the NID Yuba-Bear Hydroelectric Project since the 1960s, is about a mile uphill from Dutch Flat.
Zone 1 includes homes in Alta and Monte Vista, as well as the CHP’s Gold Run office, according to deputies, but Caltrans said Interstate 80 remains open in both directions.
A shelter has been set up at the Placer County Health and Human Services Center – 11434 B Ave., Auburn, with assistance from the Red Cross.
At Lowell Hill, a mandatory evacuation was ordered from Dutch Flat Powerhouse to Mule Springs, the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office. Warnings were also issued in zone E220, a strip of wildlife area dotted with homes north of the Bear River that divides the counties.
A link to Placer County evacuation maps is available at bit.ly/dutch-placer-evac-2024; Nevada County evacuations are available on Genasys Project.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
