When officials ordered Brian Wong and his neighbors to evacuate as the Thompson Fire spread through the town of Oroville this week, the restaurant owner knew he couldn’t leave.
He said he learned from the 2018 Camp Fire how wrong things can go for people who can’t protect their property.
Auroville is about 20 miles south of Paradise, where The deadliest wildfire in California history 85 people died and the Butte County town was destroyed.
“I used to be hesitant to leave the house, but I’m hearing so many stories from Paradise fire victims who weren’t taken care of,” the 53-year-old said. “I’m scared to leave my house, leave my property, and the next thing it burns down and we’re in a complicated mess.
He said, “If necessary, I would prefer to stay here and protect my property.”
As of Wednesday, more than 28,000 Butte County residents were under evacuation orders. The Thompson fire had grown to more than 3,500 acres and was 0% contained. Four homes had been destroyed and thousands of buildings were at risk, according to Rick Carhart, a public information officer for Cal Fire’s Butte County station.
Carhart said many people who lost their homes in the Camp Fire are being forced to evacuate once again.
Crews battled the fire — one of several burning across the state this week — amid extreme heat and red flag warnings. Temperatures were forecast to reach 108 degrees Wednesday, with wind speeds ranging from 15 to 20 miles per hour.
Much of Northern California remains under a Red Flag Warning, a warning for extreme fire weather. The combination of 30 mph winds, low humidity and warm temperatures “may contribute to extreme fire behavior,” according to National Weather Service.
Nine new fires broke out in the region on Tuesday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The Thompson fire was the largest, followed by the Airline fire in San Benito County, which spanned 1,200 acres and was 55% contained as of Wednesday morning.
Governor Gavin Newsom said on Wednesday A state of emergency was declared for the Thompson fire, which he said threatened “structures, homes, critical infrastructure, and health and congregate care facilities.”
The fire broke out just before 11 a.m. Tuesday and is under investigation, but the cause is not yet known.
“The conditions we have in our county this summer are very different than the last two summers,” Garrett Sjolund, Cal Fire unit chief in Butte County, said at a news conference Tuesday evening. “The fuels are much denser, the brush is drier, and as you can see, any wind will fan the fire very quickly.”
Butte County Sheriff Kory L. Honea said during a news conference that four fires have broken out in the past few weeks, and he described it as “a bad fire season.”
“I understand people stopping,” Honea said. “If you stop, you have to make sure you’re paying attention to where the fire is going so you can get out if you need to.”
A helicopter drops water on the Thompson fire burning above Lake Oroville in Oroville on Tuesday.
(Noah Berger/Associated Press)
The skies were blue in many areas of Auroville on Wednesday, but there was a slight smell of smoke in the center of town. Most businesses remained open, including the Wagon Wheel Market on Olive Highway.
Patrick Butler, 56, who runs the market with his brother Tom, said residents have “experienced this many times.” He said they used a hose to wet down the shop, though no flames were visible in the area Wednesday morning.
There was a bit of smoke in the air outside, and roads to the east and west were blocked.
“If I had to guess, I would assume we are under mandatory evacuation,” he said in a brief phone interview. “We have a lot of defensible space. We have a generator, there’s plenty of water here. We’re just going to keep things running here.”
The market has been owned by the Butler family since 1981. Most of the people working there Wednesday were members of his immediate family, including his brother, wife, daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren, as his staff were unable to get there because of road blockages.
That morning, they had sold more sandwich items than usual, along with breakfast burritos and bottles of water.
“There’s a lot of people in this evacuation zone that we’re prepared to serve,” he said. “We have a lot of first responders that are running around and need things.”
Members of the Oroville Chamber of Commerce contacted vendors Wednesday morning to let them know the Fourth of July fireworks celebration was canceled.
“It’s been kind of a hometown tradition in our community. But, obviously, with the fire happening in the city limits, everybody is just focused on addressing the safety emergency,” said Eric Smith, president of the Oroville Chamber of Commerce. “It just wouldn’t be responsibly done at this time.”
Don and Linda Pedersen were determined Wednesday not to let the latest fire encroach on their property.
“This isn’t the first time this has happened,” Don, 81, said.
But this is the closest the fire has gotten to their home of 50 years, which is located on an acre of land near the Oroville Dam that Linda’s family has owned since 1945. Don said he thinks the fire, at its closest, was about a mile away. But he said they don’t plan to evacuate until the fire crosses Highway 162, which serves as a firebreak of sorts.
Pederson’s home is in the evacuation warning area, though he said the fire map puts his garage in the mandatory evacuation zone.
“Even though our whole house is in the evacuation zone, we won’t leave until I know it’s on our side of the street and coming down the hill,” he said, adding that they have power and a generator for the whole house as a backup.
“I could actually see the flames from a distance,” he said the day before.
He said he is monitoring the fire from inside his home with Linda, 79, and has set aside some important papers so they can get a handle on the fire if they have to leave quickly. The grass around his home has been cut to create a defensible space and avoid flying embers. He has two vehicles parked away from the house so they can escape if a fire breaks out. There are two fire hydrants next to his property.
“The wind isn’t too strong, but it’s getting stronger right now. And I’ve seen a lot of smoke,” he said.
He said first response teams have been working diligently since the fire broke out.
“Everybody really stepped up for it,” he said.
Mike Shorrock, a retired Cal Fire battalion chief in Butte County, is closely monitoring the flames from his home just two miles south of the fire, east of Oroville. He speaks the language of fire, talking about control lines, drainage and fire conditions, as he feels a sense of habit returning to the job he has worked at for 45 years.
Shorrock’s home is in a mandatory evacuation zone, but — at least for now — he said he’ll stay put.
“When you work in the business you’re kind of in denial, like, ‘Oh, that won’t happen to me,’ but I have a lot of friends who lost their homes in the Paradise fire,” he said. “I feel comfortable living here because of my experience and the shelter in place rules and regulations. It’s everyone’s personal choice.”
