CAL FIRE reports 135 residences burned in the Butte Fire

Bill Gabbert
September 10, 2015

A September 16 update on the Butte Fire is in a new article.

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(UPDATED at 12:17 PT, September 14, 2015)

The Butte Fire south of Jackson, California has grown by about 6,000 acres in the last two days and is now listed at 71,063 acres.

CAL FIRE reports that 135 residences and 79 outbuildings have been destroyed.

Fire behavior remained moderate on Sunday allowing crews to be more effective in constructing fireline on the perimeter.

butte fire map — Butte Fire map, 9-13-2015. CAL FIRE.

Evacuations are still in place for many areas in Amador and Calaveras Counties. More details are available at the fire information phone lines: (530) 647-5218 and (209) 754-5527.

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(UPDATE at 10:35 p.m. PT, September 12, 2015)

In a 9:15 p.m PT update from CAL FIRE, the size of the Butte Fire south of Jackson, California remained about the same during the day on Saturday, but damage assessment teams reported that they counted 86 homes and 51 outbuildings that burned in the fire.

Mandatory evacuations are still in place for numerous locations in Amador and Calaveras Counties. More details are available at the fire information phone lines: (530) 647-5218 and (209) 754-5527.

Over 3,800 personnel are assigned to the fire, along with 452 fire engines, 77 hand crews, 17 helicopters, and 94 dozers.

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(UPDATED at 9:43 a.m. PT, September 12, 2015)

West Point E312 — Engine 312 from the West Point Fire Protection District. Photo by SLOStringer, used with permission.

Two close calls have occurred on the Butte Fire south of Jackson, California. A truck from the West Point Fire Protection District burned in the private driveway of a home along Highway 26 . The person who took the photo above said it appeared the crew was doing structure protection and that they were able to avoid any major injuries.

The Modesto Bee has an article about “Modesto and Stanislaus Consolidated crews” that had to take refuge behind a structure as the fire “made a significant run at them [with] very erratic fire behavior”. The firefighters did not deploy fire shelters, but their vehicles suffered heat damage described as “cosmetic”, including “bubbled paint, melted plastic trim and melted hose”.

Map Butte Fire — The red dots represent heat detected by a satellite over the Butte Fire at 1:37 a.m. PT, Sept. 12, 2015. The other colors are from earlier satellite overflights. MODIS. (click to enlarge)

CAL FIRE reports that the Butte Fire has burned 64,728 acres and has destroyed 15 structures. Other than evacuations and the number of firefighting resources assigned (3,330 personnel) CAL FIRE has provided little additional information about the fire. Saturday morning they did supply the map below which, although undated, appears to be fairly current.

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(UPDATED at 5:30 p.m. PT, September 11, 2015)

CAL FIRE reported at 3 p.m. today that the Butte Fire south of Jackson has burned 50,000 acres since it started 46 hours before on September 9.

More areas have been added to the mandatory evacuation list in Calaveras and Amador Counties. Details are available at the Fire Information phone line, (530) 647-5218 and (209) 754-5527.

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(UPDATED at 9:37 a.m. PT, September 11, 2015)

Scooper Butte Fire — A water-scooping air tanker drops on the Butte Fire, September 9, 2015. Photo by Air Attack 440.

The Butte Fire south of Jackson, California continued to grow during its second day on Thursday, spreading primarily to the south and southeast. (see the map below)

CAL FIRE reported Friday morning at 6:43 PT that the Butte Fire had burned 31,974 acres.

Evacuations have been ordered in numerous locations in Calaveras and Amador Counties. Details are available at the Fire Information phone line, (530) 647-5218.

CAL FIRE has not updated the number of structures burned since Thursday morning, when they reported “6 structures and 2 outbuildings destroyed”.

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(UPDATED at 10:02 p.m. PT, September 10, 2015)

S-2 Butte Fire — An S-2 drops retardant on the Butte Fire. Photo by Air Attack 440. September 9, 2015.

About four hours after CAL FIRE said that the Butte Fire southeast of Jackson, California had burned 4,000 acres, an update at 6:30 p.m. reported that it had more than tripled in size, to 14,700 acres. There was no update on the structures burned, still remaining at six, but with the extreme fire behavior experienced Thursday afternoon, that number could grow after it is possible to assess the damage.

Map Butte Fire 1255 pm — Map of heat detected by a satellite on the Butte Fire at 12:55 p.m., September 10, 2015. The fire continued spreading after this data was collected by a satellite. North is up. (click to enlarge)

CAL FIRE described the fire as having “rapid, uncontrolled fire growth” and said “suppression efforts had minimal impacts due to a high focus on structure defense.”

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(Originally published at 3:54 p.m. PT, September 10, 2015)

3-D Map Butte Fire — 3-D map of the Butte Fire showing heat detected by a satellite at 3:08 a.m., September 10, 2015. The map is looking east. (click to enlarge)

A fire that started Wednesday afternoon southeast of Jackson, California has burned at least six structures and approximately 4,000 acres. As of early Thursday morning it was about 4 miles southeast of Jackson and was very close to Mokelumme Hill, Happy Valley, Electra, and Rich Gulch. (see the two maps of the fire)

Thursday afternoon it was very active, crossed Highway 26, and was being fought by multiple large air tankers, including two DC-10s and a large number of firefighters on the ground.

There was a report Thursday afternoon that firefighters in at least one location on the fire found their safety compromised due to extreme fire behavior Thursday afternoon and requested air support.

Evacuations have been ordered in several locations in Calaveras and Amador Counties. Details are available at the Fire Information phone line, (530) 647-5218.