OROVILLE — As all too many Butte County residents know, fire is a chaotic and difficult-to-quell beast.
The numbers Friday afternoon from Cal Fire-Butte County estimated that 25 structures — be it residential, commercial or other — have been confirmed destroyed by the Thompson Fire bordering the north and northeast end of Oroville with at least six structures damaged.
Driving through some of the neighborhoods that were up against the burn scar, many homes still stood while some were reduced to debris. Not unlike the Camp Fire, Bear Fire and North Complex fires before it, the Thompson Fire and the conditions that helped it burn 3,789 acres of land can almost feel random in its destruction. One home at the end of Putnam Drive, one with plenty of clearance around it, had burned to the ground. Friends driving by the property noted that the homeowners had done much to secure the property in case of a wildfire.
Jerry Hermansen describes the Thompson Fire and how close it came to his property on Friday, July 5, 2024 in Oroville, California. (Jake Hutchison/Enterprise-Record)
Just down the road from the house’s remains, Jerry Hermansen, a retired Butte County judge, reflected on the evacuation order he received Tuesday as the blaze quickly spread along the outskirts of Oroville.
“It was a little scary,” Hermansen said. “There was a big plume of smoke coming up from over the trees, and it kept getting higher and higher.”
First came the evacuation warning, but within an hour, the order came and Hermansen had to flee with his dog.
“My wife was gone at the time, fortunately, she was in Sacramento,” Hermansen said. “It was scary all right. And then there was the suspense of not knowing what was happening. There seemed to be a lack of communication for the first few hours, obviously, they were busy fighting the fires. But it was very suspenseful.”
A plastic shed melted slightly from heat put off by a burning firewood pile seen Friday, July 5, 2024 near Oroville, California. (Jake Hutchison/Enterprise-Record)
Hermansen was able to return home Thursday evening.
“I do want to compliment the fire departments,” Hermansen said. “They did a marvelous job talking to as many of us as they did and getting it out quickly.”
Near misses
Next door to Hermansen lives Sue Kurtz whose property was likely saved by a considerable amount of retardant drop. The horse pasture on her property was a visible mix of black charred ground, yellow grass and pink from the airdrops. At the edge of the property, horses huddled close together. Kurtz noted that all of her animals made it safely through the fire.
“We do a lot of irrigation so I think that helped,” Kurtz said. “But we had a 10-quart woodpile that went up. We were not here, we evacuated.”
Kurtz walked up to where the large firewood pile once stood but was now a nearly flat rectangle of ash. She pointed toward a plastic shed near the pile with signs of melting from the heat.
The charred remains of a large firewood pile on Friday, July 5, 2024 that burned during the Thompson Fire near Oroville, California. (Jake Hutchison/Enterprise-Record)
“Our main worry were the horses down in the pasture,” Kurtz said. “They’re not our horses, so I tried to get a hold of (the owner), and he said at that time that they were so panic stricken that to try to get them onto a trailer would probably hurt them and hurt the people trying to get them in. But they survived.”
Kurtz noted that it was likely difficult on her cat, aptly named Smokey, who was a Camp Fire rescue that also had to evacuate during the fire in Berry Creek.
Though parts of Kurtz and her husband’s property saw fire on the ground, their house remains standing. Firefighters had parked at the top of their driveway Friday morning to clean off the remaining retardant, which can be slippery.
“We dodged a bullet,” Kurtz said. “We were very, very lucky.”
Lake County firefighters Cody Heagney and Stephen Gass hose off fire retardant from a driveway on Putnam Drive near Oroville, California on Friday, July 5, 2024. (Jake Hutchison/Enterprise-Record)
A few streets over on Bessie Lane, some weren’t so lucky. At least two homes at the end of the road had burned and one just up the road took some damage to a wall.
Nanette Freeman said the water pressure, which started from a hill right next to her home, helped to save the property but the lack of a hose on the north end allowed the fire to brush up next to the home, singing part of the wall.
“The soaker is still laying there but the grass is just as dry as when I left it,” Freeman said. “(Firefighters) made a dirt break which helped.”
Freeman also had a horse on her property that was safe after the fire thanks to help from deputies with the Butte County Sheriff’s Office.
A home at the end of Putnam Drive near Oroville, California that burned as a result of the Thompson Fire is seen Friday, July 5, 2024. (Jake Hutchison/Enterprise-Record)
Fire activity
As of Friday afternoon, no indication of how the fire started has been released, but the portion of the fire that had destroyed some homes and threatened others on the south end of the burn area had been thwarted by firefighters.
Cal Fire-Butte County Public Information Officer Rick Carhart said crews have been doing clean up in those areas while other crews at the northern end continue fighting the Thompson Fire where it continues burning.
A tree with a tinge of pink from fire retardant next to a fire engine off Putnam Drive near Oroville, California on Friday, July 5, 2024. (Jake Hutchison/Enterprise-Record)
“There hasn’t been a lot of change in fire activity, but there is very little actual fire activity going on,” Carhart said. “We do still have crews highlighting up in the northeast Oregon Gulch section, and we have a lot of equipment up there strengthening control and our containment lines. The south part of the fire where it got into north and east of Oroville and into Kelly Ridge is looking really good.”
Carhart said the area is still being assessed and parts of the ground potentially damaged by equipment like bulldozers are being leveled out.
“One big emphasis today is the beginning of fire suppression repair,” Carhart said.
County level
On Tuesday when the fire started, Butte County Chief Administrative Officer Andy Pickett declared a local emergency proclamation in response to the unfavorable weather condition and the then-grim outlook of the fire.
The Butte County Board of Supervisors announced Friday that it would be holding a special meeting at 9 a.m. Monday, July 8, to ratify the local disaster proclamation.
According to the meeting agenda, the emergency proclamation has to be ratified within a week of its start to stay in effect. After this, the renewal has to occur every 30 days.
The meeting will be held at the board chambers at 25 County Center Drive, Suite 205 in Oroville. The public is welcome to join.
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