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Swedes Fire burning 400 acres in Butte County, 40% contained, Cal Fire says | UPDATE

The fire began Saturday east of Oroville near Swedes Flat Road and Oro Bangor Highway.

UPDATE: Sept. 9, 8:10 a.m.

BUTTE COUNTY, Calif. — The Swedes Fire burning through a small section of Butte County is now 40% contained, Cal Fire confirmed Monday morning.

The fire, which is burning about 400 acres, originally prompted evacuation orders, but as fire crews contained, those order were downgraded to warnings.

The areas that are now under the reduced evacuation warning are the following:

  • Deer Valley Road from Swedes Flat Road to the end Jernigan Way from Hurleton Swedes Flat Road to the end.
  • All of Quality Lane Lost Horizon Drive to Oro-Quincy Highway Old Olive Highway to Oro-Quincy Highway Feathervale Drive and Mt. Ida Road and all adjoining roads to the east

Update 6 p.m.:

All evacuation orders for the areas impacted by the Swedes Fire in Butte County have been downgraded to evacuation warnings, the Butte County Sheriff's Office said.

According to Cal Fire, activity for the Swedes Fire was minimal overnight due to light winds and high relative humidity.

Firefighters are continuing to attack the fire, which at their last update remained at approximately 400 acres with 20 percent containment.  

The areas that are now under the reduced evacuation warning are the following:

  • Deer Valley Road from Swedes Flat Road to the end Jernigan Way from Hurleton Swedes Flat Road to the end.
  • All of Quality Lane Lost Horizon Drive to Oro-Quincy Highway Old Olive Highway to Oro-Quincy Highway Feathervale Drive and Mt. Ida Road and all adjoining roads to the east

Original:

A fire that began burning Saturday in Butte County is now 20% contained, according to Cal Fire.

The Swedes fire, burning east of Oroville near Swedes Flat Road and Oro Bangor Highway, quickly grew from 25 acres to 400 acres Saturday. But the fire didn't grow overnight into Sunday, according to Rick Carhart, public information officer for Cal Fire. 

"We had pretty good weather. The temps were down, humidity was up and the wind was light, which is exactly what we wanted. We were able to get a lot of work done," he said.

Carhart said air resources should be up and over the fire as soon as it's safe to fly. He said additional resources came in overnight and they're heading to the fire line Sunday morning. 

"The Owens Ravine is the concern spot because it’s pretty inaccessible," Carhart said. " You can’t get vehicles in the area because it’s rough and rugged. It’s going to be all hand crews hiking and cutting line by hand." 

There are no new road closures or evacuation orders, according to Carhart.

He said existing road closures remain in place for the following areas:

  • Dear Valley Road from Swedes Flat Road to the end
  • Jernigan Way from Hurleton Swedes Flat Road to the end of Jernigan Way
  • All of Quality Lane
  • Lost Horizon Drive to Oro-Quincy Highway
  • Old Olive Highway to Oro-Quincy Highway
  • Feathervale Drive and Mt. Ida Road and all adjoining roads to the east

Evacuation warnings were issued for the area north of Forbestown Road to include Hurleton Road, Stringtown Road, and all roads that adjoin those roads.

BUTTE COUNTY EMERGENCY RESOURCES:

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