The National Weather Service’s Sacramento office shared a video on Twitter of the massive pyrocumulus clouds that formed over the Dixie Fire in Plumas County on Sunday, sending a towering smoke column into the atmosphere and signaling the extreme fire activity on the ground.
“The ongoing #DixieFire continues to burn in Plumas County,” the weather service wrote. “This video is from around 5:20 pm today, July 18th.”
The Pyrocumulus clouds — literally translated as “fire clouds” — complicated containment efforts Sunday, where flames spread in remote areas with steep terrain crews can’t easily reach, officials said. New mandatory evacuation orders were issued in rural communities near the Feather River Canyon including Bucks Lake and Meadow Valley. (See evacuation information here.)
The Dixie Fire grew over 10,000 acres overnight and covered 30,074 acres as of Monday morning. It was 15% contained. The fire is northeast of the town of Paradise, California, and survivors of that horrific fire that killed 85 people watched warily as the blaze burned.
Flames broke out above the Cresta Dam in the Feather River Canyon on July 14
The blaze had significant activity on Sunday and overnight, Cal Fire said, and flames continued to push southeast toward Bucks Lake.
A portion of State Route 70 was closed to all traffic due to the fire.
An evacuation center was set up at Quincy High School (across from Safeway) for people under mandatory evacuation.
Plumas News reported on a Sunday night briefing from Operations Section Chief Tony Burnell who said fire activity Sunday picked up on the east side, jumping the Feather River and running all the way down to Tobin. The fire was burning west and north of Bucks Lake.
“We want to keep it out of Bucks Lake and the Meadow Valley area,” Burnell said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Source Article from https://www.sfgate.com/california-wildfires/article/Dixie-Fire-pyrocumulous-clouds-video-Plumas-16323985.php
Comments