OROVILLE — Residents in the area of Chinese Wall Road slowly filed back into their homes fresh off the scare of the Swedes Fire which forced them out Saturday.
Firefighters working in the area raised containment to 40 percent in the hills east of Oroville by Monday morning.
Though seemingly scattered, firefighters and inmate crews maintained the burn zone and continued cleanup efforts to remove dangerous trees and smoldering embers.
Despite the chaos and fire fears that likely keep residents on edge throughout the weekend, the surrounding roads were peaceful with occasional drivers stopping to thank firefighters as they made their way home.
Cal Fire-Butte County released an update to the fire Monday morning saying the mild weather has helped aid the firefighters in the containment process and the fire remains at 400 acres.
All evacuation warnings have been lifted for the Swedes Fire, the Butte County Sheriffs Office tweeted at 9:56 a.m. Monday. Evacuation orders were switched to warnings at 6 p.m. Sunday.
Along Chinese Wall Road, there was a stark contrast between the yellow landscape and the black scar that broke right at the roads line. Bulldozers could be seen off in the distance still creating dirt lines to create an additional obstacle should the fire reignite.
Cal Fire-Butte County Public Information Officer Rick Carhart said many of the firefighters in the area have been doing this job for a long time and know the terrain well.
On Saturday, the blaze began and quickly ripped through much of the greenery in the same landscape burned by the Wall Fire in 2017.
Air resources such as fire fighting planes have been released from the incident and crews are now providing support inside the burn zone by clearing out burning embers.
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There were still 25 fire trucks, 13 fire crews, eight bulldozers, five volunteer companies, 12 water trucks and 65 supervisors working the fire at a total of 375 personnel fighting the blaze Monday.
Cal Fire-Butte County is heading the fight with help from the Butte County Sheriffs Office, both the Chico and Oroville fire departments, PG&E, California State Parks, the North Valley Animal Disaster Group and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
West of the Swedes Fire, a small spot fire broke out Sunday and firefighters were dispatched to control it, said a tweet by Cal Fire-Butte County. It was quickly put out.
EVACUATION WARNING LIFTED #SwedesFire #ButteSheriff pic.twitter.com/CUAlbO1nEf
— Butte County Sheriff (@ButteSheriff) September 9, 2019
#SwedesFire [update] Working map of the fire area, showing the perimeter of the fire with Chinese Wall Road making up much of the eastern (right side) borRead More – Source
