Thompson Fire in Butte County triggers series of evacuation orders near Oroville

BUTTE COUNTY — Evacuation orders and warnings have been issued in part of Butte County near Oroville due to a wildfire Tuesday.

Cal Fire named the incident the Thompson Fire, which started in the area of ​​Cherokee Road and Thompson Flat Cemetery and has burned more than 2,100 acres.

Mandatory evacuations affect about 13,000 people near downtown Oroville, east of Kelly Ridge and north just past Cannon Reservoir. Evacuation orders are in effect for the following areas: 532-536, 700-716, 730, 731, 800, 818, 819 828, 851, 953, 954, 958, 959, 960 and 965.

Evacuation warnings are in effect for areas 531, 726, 727, 801, 802, 804-811, 816, 817 and 820. Here is a live map of the evacuation zones.

Evacuation shelters were open at the Oroville Church of the Nazarene at 2238 Monte Vista Ave. and the Gridley Fairgrounds at 199 E Hazel St. in Gridley.

On Tuesday night, CBS Sacramento captured footage of a house burning on Canyon Drive in north Oroville.

The total number of structures burned or destroyed was not yet known.

In addition to the images captured by CBS Sacramento, several photos from Getty Images show structures and cars engulfed in flames in Oroville. See a gallery of these images here.

On Tuesday night, the city of Oroville declared a local state of emergency. The Thompson Fire was threatening critical infrastructure, including water and power supplies to the Oroville area.

In response to the fire, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the state had been awarded a Fire Management Assistance Grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide critical resources to the region. The grant is being provided through a federal disaster relief fund.

The California Office of Emergency Services also said it was deploying additional fire and law enforcement resources to help fight the Thompson Fire.

Firefighters have been battling the flames at multiple locations. At a news conference at 6 p.m. Tuesday, a Cal Fire spokesman said the priority is to control the flames near the Oroville Dam.

Firefighters were working to control the blaze north of Long Bar Road in Oroville and south of Oregon City.

A thick plume of smoke filled the sky above and around Oroville. Winds pushed the smoke south toward the Sacramento area.

More than a dozen aircraft, 50 engines and 15 bulldozers were involved in fighting the fires, Cal Fire said. Some Cal Fire aircraft were filling up with water and retardant at McClellan Park in Sacramento County before heading north toward Oroville.

No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is not yet known.