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Storrie Fire
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Storrie Fire
The Storrie Fire was a sizeable wildfire in Northern California's Plumas County and the second-largest of California's 2000 wildfire season. The fire began on August 17, 2000, and was fully contained by September 9; it burned 55,261 acres (22,363 hectares) in total and resulted in minimal property damage or casualties. The cost of containing the Storrie Fire amounted to $22 million (equivalent to about $38 million in 2024).
The fire was accidentally begun by Union Pacific Railroad workers, who were using a saw tool to repair train tracks in the Feather River Canyon near the community of Storrie. In an effort to recoup the costs of fire suppression as well as damages to federal lands, the U.S. government filed a lawsuit against Union Pacific over the Storrie Fire in 2006. Two years later, after a landmark ruling allowed the government to seek compensation for the full value of the land harmed by the fire, Union Pacific resolved the suit by paying the government a settlement of $102 million.
The Storrie Fire was preceded by a long period of hot and dry conditions. It began and burned within the Feather River Canyon, which runs much of the width of the Sierra Nevada range, winding northeast from Lake Oroville to near Indian Valley and Lake Almanor. The canyon is steep and rugged, in places rising more than 5,000 feet from the Feather River to surrounding peaks.
The Feather River Canyon has played host to many large wildfires since the 1990s besides the Storrie Fire, including the 1999 Bucks Fire, the 2008 BTU Lightning Complex Fire, the 2012 Chips Fire, the 2018 Camp Fire, and the 2021 Dixie Fire. However, in 2000, only 12 percent of the Storrie Fire's total area had ever burned in the previous century. In later years, 45 percent of the Storrie Fire burn area reburned in the Chips Fire, and nearly all of the Storrie Fire burn area reburned in the Dixie Fire.
The Storrie Fire first ignited on August 17 at about 2:00 p.m. PDT. A five-person Union Pacific crew was conducting track repair work on the Feather River Route in the Feather River Canyon near the community of Storrie, in a rugged and remote area of the northern Sierra Nevada. The work involved using a saw to cut the rail before smoothing the cut with a grinder; the sawing process, later tests showed, could throw small fragments of hot metal nearly 40 feet away. The workers did not employ spark shields and did not clear the area of flammable material. While they were cutting the rail, sparks ignited a bed of dry leaves. The crew made efforts to put out the resulting fire, though their later accounts were inconsistent with each other. Fifteen minutes after they departed, ostensibly believing the fire extinguished, a train came by and the turbulence from its passage fanned the remaining embers.
When the fire was first spotted on a steep slope near Storrie later that afternoon, it was reported as 20 acres (8.1 ha) in size. At 5:20 p.m., officials closed a 40-mile (64 km) section of Highway 70 in the Feather River Canyon between Jarbo Gap and the intersection of Highways 70 and 89. By 8:00 p.m., the fire had burned 200 acres (81 ha).
On August 18, the fire grew further, as hot, dry, and windy conditions pushed the fire from 3,500 acres (1,400 ha) to over 5,000 acres (2,000 ha). Because of the steep and dangerous terrain, the nearly 1,000 assembled firefighters were unable to directly tackle the fire. The majority of the effort was instead carried out by nine fixed-wing air tankers and seven helicopters, dropping water and fire retardant. Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) de-energized two 230 kV electric power transmission lines to enable the aerial attack. As Forest Service officials warned that the fire was advancing up through the Pacific Crest Trail, Plumas County sheriff's deputies searched for possible hikers or campers in its path on August 18.As the winds pushed the fire north, the station chief for the Plumas National Forest speculated that the fire would burn for "the rest of the summer".
On August 19, windy conditions continued to drive the fire as the burned area more than doubled to about 11,000 acres (4,500 ha). The fire spotted (i.e. started a spot fire) more than one mile (1.6 km) ahead of the main fire front when embers were carried downwind into the Indian Creek drainage. The fire also jumped across the Feather River Canyon and Highway 70 for the first time near Rodgers Flat, beginning to burn in the Bucks Lake Wilderness. Voluntary evacuations were instituted for the Feather River Canyon communities of Belden, Seneca, Caribou Road, and Butt Lake, as well as the Three Lakes Campground near Bucks Lake. By evening the fire was burning in the lower portions of the Chips and Yellow Creek canyons and its perimeter was five percent contained.
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Storrie Fire
The Storrie Fire was a sizeable wildfire in Northern California's Plumas County and the second-largest of California's 2000 wildfire season. The fire began on August 17, 2000, and was fully contained by September 9; it burned 55,261 acres (22,363 hectares) in total and resulted in minimal property damage or casualties. The cost of containing the Storrie Fire amounted to $22 million (equivalent to about $38 million in 2024).
The fire was accidentally begun by Union Pacific Railroad workers, who were using a saw tool to repair train tracks in the Feather River Canyon near the community of Storrie. In an effort to recoup the costs of fire suppression as well as damages to federal lands, the U.S. government filed a lawsuit against Union Pacific over the Storrie Fire in 2006. Two years later, after a landmark ruling allowed the government to seek compensation for the full value of the land harmed by the fire, Union Pacific resolved the suit by paying the government a settlement of $102 million.
The Storrie Fire was preceded by a long period of hot and dry conditions. It began and burned within the Feather River Canyon, which runs much of the width of the Sierra Nevada range, winding northeast from Lake Oroville to near Indian Valley and Lake Almanor. The canyon is steep and rugged, in places rising more than 5,000 feet from the Feather River to surrounding peaks.
The Feather River Canyon has played host to many large wildfires since the 1990s besides the Storrie Fire, including the 1999 Bucks Fire, the 2008 BTU Lightning Complex Fire, the 2012 Chips Fire, the 2018 Camp Fire, and the 2021 Dixie Fire. However, in 2000, only 12 percent of the Storrie Fire's total area had ever burned in the previous century. In later years, 45 percent of the Storrie Fire burn area reburned in the Chips Fire, and nearly all of the Storrie Fire burn area reburned in the Dixie Fire.
The Storrie Fire first ignited on August 17 at about 2:00 p.m. PDT. A five-person Union Pacific crew was conducting track repair work on the Feather River Route in the Feather River Canyon near the community of Storrie, in a rugged and remote area of the northern Sierra Nevada. The work involved using a saw to cut the rail before smoothing the cut with a grinder; the sawing process, later tests showed, could throw small fragments of hot metal nearly 40 feet away. The workers did not employ spark shields and did not clear the area of flammable material. While they were cutting the rail, sparks ignited a bed of dry leaves. The crew made efforts to put out the resulting fire, though their later accounts were inconsistent with each other. Fifteen minutes after they departed, ostensibly believing the fire extinguished, a train came by and the turbulence from its passage fanned the remaining embers.
When the fire was first spotted on a steep slope near Storrie later that afternoon, it was reported as 20 acres (8.1 ha) in size. At 5:20 p.m., officials closed a 40-mile (64 km) section of Highway 70 in the Feather River Canyon between Jarbo Gap and the intersection of Highways 70 and 89. By 8:00 p.m., the fire had burned 200 acres (81 ha).
On August 18, the fire grew further, as hot, dry, and windy conditions pushed the fire from 3,500 acres (1,400 ha) to over 5,000 acres (2,000 ha). Because of the steep and dangerous terrain, the nearly 1,000 assembled firefighters were unable to directly tackle the fire. The majority of the effort was instead carried out by nine fixed-wing air tankers and seven helicopters, dropping water and fire retardant. Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) de-energized two 230 kV electric power transmission lines to enable the aerial attack. As Forest Service officials warned that the fire was advancing up through the Pacific Crest Trail, Plumas County sheriff's deputies searched for possible hikers or campers in its path on August 18.As the winds pushed the fire north, the station chief for the Plumas National Forest speculated that the fire would burn for "the rest of the summer".
On August 19, windy conditions continued to drive the fire as the burned area more than doubled to about 11,000 acres (4,500 ha). The fire spotted (i.e. started a spot fire) more than one mile (1.6 km) ahead of the main fire front when embers were carried downwind into the Indian Creek drainage. The fire also jumped across the Feather River Canyon and Highway 70 for the first time near Rodgers Flat, beginning to burn in the Bucks Lake Wilderness. Voluntary evacuations were instituted for the Feather River Canyon communities of Belden, Seneca, Caribou Road, and Butt Lake, as well as the Three Lakes Campground near Bucks Lake. By evening the fire was burning in the lower portions of the Chips and Yellow Creek canyons and its perimeter was five percent contained.
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