OROVILLE — A fire northeast of Oroville quickly spread out of control on the morning of Tuesday, July 2 which prompted Butte County Chief Administrative Officer Andy Pickett to sign an emergency declaration as firefighters and law enforcement personnel from out of the area quickly hurried to the city to help defend it against the blaze.
The Butte County Board of Supervisors formally ratified the emergency declaration regarding the Thompson Fire in a special meeting Monday morning in order to keep it in the books for at least another 30 days.
During the special meeting, Butte County Fire Chief Garrett Sjolund gave a detailed rundown of the fire and the complications that surrounding geography and weather created when fighting it.
“It was a very stubborn fire,” Sjolund said. “The location of the fire was sheltered a bit from the north winds coming off of Table Mountain but as it began to reverse slope, if you will, up Table Mountain the winds were able to catch it and caused a lot of control objective challenges for our time. As the day progressed, with the wind shifts, it just caused the fire to continue to challenge our firefighters, personnel and equipment.”
Sjolund noted how the fire quickly turned toward the community of Kelly Ridge which extends roughly east of the city of Oroville to Lake Oroville. Much of the neighborhood is uphill from the city and outside city limits. Cal Fire-Butte County used the majority of its forces on the fire while keeping three units spread throughout other parts of the county in case of other emergencies until the state’s Cal Fire Incident Team 6 arrived with more fire crews to help fight the fire.
“A synopsis just to give you an idea of the height of the incident, which would have been Thursday, we had a total of 2,219 personnel, 242 fire engines, 34 hand crews, 47 dozers and 13 helicopters on the incident,” Sjolund recalled. “We did have a few injuries, mostly heat related, and unfortunately there was a Cal Fire engine coming from Healdsburg to this incident that did roll over in Butte County. The three people on board were not injured, however, it did destroy the engine.”
Supervisor Bill Connelly, whose district contains both Oroville and Kelly Ridge, praised the work of the firefighters.
“It was probably, and I hate to say this, the least devastating for that size fire,” Connelly said. “And (that is) because of their efforts.”
Sjolund closed by saying the cause of the Thompson Fire remains under investigation.
Butte County Sheriff’s Office Undersheriff Matt Calkins broke down the law enforcement element in fire relief and emergency management as well as the activation of Law Enforcement Mutual Aid, or LEMA, which allowed the Sheriff’s Office to bring in outside assistance from other agencies.
Calkins said having outside law enforcement step in allowed for local law enforcement to maintain day-to-day operations on top of getting people out during evacuation orders.
“During these incidents, it’s not just the fire we’re dealing with, we still have crime, we still have to respond to calls, and we still have to run the jail,” Calkins said. “So that can be an additional strain on resources and why the LEMA resources are so important.”
The board unanimously approved the ratification of the emergency declaration which will be in effect for 30 days at which point the board will then decide whether to extend it or let it lapse.
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