The fire that has scorched more than 1,000 acres of wildland and threatened homes near Foresthill is still burning this morning but its march has at least temporarily slowed.
However, fire officials are worried that the afternoon will bring hot winds that could push the fire toward houses despite the best efforts of more than 1,800 firefighters.
Dubbed the Robbers fire, it began about 3:20 p.m. Wednesday near the east bank of the north fork of the American River and burned eastward, toward Iowa Hill. Since then, aerial and ground efforts to quell the blaze have been on-going.
Overnight, the fire was relatively quiet. That was in contrast to Thursday when the fire made several different runs in various directions, the most aggressive being in the southeast direction toward the Yankee Jims area.
When the fire bolted toward the Yankee Jims area about 3:30 p.m. the Placer County Sheriff's office ordered additional evacuations. About 30 people were told to leave for their safety, bringing total evacuations since Wednesday to about 150.
The fire as of today is estimated to have consumed 1,100 acres of forest, an increase of 300 acres since Thursday. The blaze is 10 percent contained.
"This fire had definitely been giving us trouble in the afternoons," said Daniel Berlant, spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
He noted that the temperatures are not expected to be quite so hot today, which is a relief to those battling the blaze. However, temperatures are still expected to reach the 90s.
"And we are expecting to start seeing some winds," said Berlant. "Today, there is a little bit of an inversion over that canyon, keeping the fire quiet. Most of the smoke has settled into the valley, but once things start to heat up, the fire will generate enough heat that it will push through that inversion and be active again."
Personnel and equipment from as far away as Southern California are fighting the blaze.
Evacuees gathered at the Foresthill Veterans Memorial Hall, chosen by Placer County's Office of Emergency Services as an evacuation center.
Kathy Shawl of Foresthill said she and her family left their home Wednesday before the evacuation order.
"We knew that fire travels uphill and the fire was down below us," Shawl said, adding that her father was a firefighter.
They also knew it would take time to get out with their animals - three horses, four cats, three dogs and three parrots. The toughest part, Shawl said, was rounding up the cats. They had to leave behind an uncooperative goat.
Shawl said her husband, Dave, was working, so it was left to her and daughters Mavis, 16, and Vivian, 20, to bring out what they could.
"It's our dream house. We built it out of nothing. It's really scary, but this is what matters," Shawl said, indicating her children and animals.
Mike Poulos had to flee his home on Yankee Jims Road, along with his wife, two daughters, his son and son-in-law. They had to leave their cats behind.
Poulos had driven to the top of a nearby ridge where he could see the smoke.
"It's bad," he said. "I've never seen anything like it."
For evacuees there was a sense of helplessness. "I'm more confused than anything else," Poulos said. "I don't know what to do."
About 200 people packed the evacuation center Thursday night to receive an update from fire officials. The biggest question for most was the safety of their homes.
For evacuation-related information, call the Placer County Office of Emergency Services at (530) 886-5310. For fire information, phone Cal Fire's Auburn call center, (530) 823-4083.
Photo caption: A Cal Fire helicopter makes a water drop next to Yankee Jim"s Road near Foresthill in Placer County on Thursday, July 12, 2012. Firefighters are battling the Robber's fire where they are dealing with extremely steep terrain. Photo by Randy Pench / rpench@sacbee.com
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.