Live updates: Electra Fire flares, prompts new evacuations, expands over 3,000 acres
2:41 p.m. Tuesday
The Red Cross opened a new shelter in San Andreas for those evacuating from the Electra Fire. The shelter is located at the Mountain Oaks School, at 150 Oak Street.
The San Andreas Town Hall shelter is now closed, according to a Red Cross social media post.
12:58 p.m. Tuesday
The Amador County Sheriff’s Office expanded the evacuation order and warning zones for the Electra Fire. Pine Acres and Clinton are now within the evacuation zone, and parts of Pine Grove are under an evacuation warning. The evacuation zones end just east of Jackson, a town with slightly under 5,000 residents.
Tabeau Road and Mount Zion Road are closed at the intersections with Highway 88, and Clinton Road is closed at Butte Mountain Road, Amador Lane and West Clinton Road.
Live updates of Amador County evacuation orders and warning are available here. The Electra Fire is burning in both Amador and Calaveras counties, with Calaveras County information available here.
10:45 a.m. Tuesday
Cal Fire assigned Incident Management Team 3 to the Electra Fire, adding to the 1,225 personnel working on the fire as of Tuesday morning. Team 3 is one of Cal Fire’s six incident management teams, which are dispatched to significant wildfires across the state.
The California Department of Public Transportation closed a stretch of State Route 26 on Tuesday morning because of the fire. In a social media post, Caltrans District 10 warned the highway would be closed between Buckeye Lane and Ridge Road, with no estimated time of opening.
10:02 a.m. Tuesday
AirNow reported air quality in Sacramento was “good” in both ozone and particulate matter Tuesday morning. The air quality index was at 13, with ozone as the primary pollutant. It’s forecast to worsen throughout the day and week as temperatures rise.
Moderate to unhealthy air quality is reported in Jackson, Sutter Creek, Mokelumne Hill, Angels Camp, Murphys, Amador City and more, according to AirNow’s California fire and smoke map.
Near Jackson, the air quality index was 171 as of 9 a.m., according to the map. Particulate matter is the primary pollutant.
Moderate air quality means most people can open windows or go outside if they don’t “see or smell smoke,” while unhealthy air quality levels suggest people should keep “outdoor activities light and short” and go indoors if symptoms develop, according to AirNow.
7:55 a.m. Tuesday
The Electra Fire, which ignited Monday afternoon along the Amador-Calaveras county line, increased threefold overnight as crews struggled to contain the blaze.
Officials were able to safely evacuate around 100 residents who were stranded in a PG&E powerhouse Monday evening. The evacuees were moved to the powerhouse from a nearby beach when the fire ignited, Amador County Sheriff Gary Redman said Tuesday.
In a Tuesday morning update, the fire stood at 3,034 acres, up from 959 Monday night. It was 0% contained, and 450 structures were threatened, Cal Fire said.
But the blaze, which is burning in mountainous terrain 5 miles southeast of Jackson and 50 miles southeast of Sacramento, appeared to be moving away from populated areas Tuesday morning. It burned in a canyon next to the north fork of the Mokelumne River overnight, Redman said, and officials expect that if it remains below the ridge line on either side of the river, it will stay away from homes.
Electra Fire map
Sources: U.S. Department of the Interior, IRWIN, NIFC, NASA, NOAA and Esri. Updated every 15 minutes.
“The fire wasn’t real active last night, which is good,” Redman said. “It’s still in that canyon area, and as long as it stays there, that will keep it out of the neighborhoods.”
Redman added that the weather is expected to work in crews’ favor through the day, as wind is light and humidity is going to increase.
Evacuation orders remain in place for the Butte Mountain Road and Lake Tabeaud areas, as well as areas of Calaveras County north of Highway 26 from Montgomery Drive to Lower Dorray Road. No new orders were issued overnight.
Evacuation shelters are set up at the Italian Picnic Grounds, 581 Highway 49 in Sutter Creek and at San Andreas Town Hall, 24 Church Hill Road. Large animals can be brought to the Amador County Fairgrounds.
Over 13,000 residents in the Jackson area are without power, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. reported on social media Monday night, as line in the area of the blaze were de-energized “for firefighter safety.” The fire is threatening “critical power infrastructure,” Cal Fire wrote in its Tuesday morning update, including the Electra Powerhouse from which residents were evacuated Monday night.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
