UPDATE, 11/9: A day after it began Cal Fire now lists the Camp Fire in Butte County at over 70,000 acres with 5 percent containment.

Watch coverage from KRCR-TV out of Redding above. 

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UPDATE, 4:15 p.m.: More than 30,000 people have been evacuated from areas threatened by the Camp Fire. At an afternoon press conference Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea outlined his department’s response to the fire.

“We have been able to evacuate thousands of people out of the areas,” Honea said but he said his agency has not yet been able to respond to around 400 calls for service — mostly from people requesting assistance leaving their home and from others hoping for welfare checks on their loved ones. He pleaded with the public to heed evacuation calls.

“Trust me when I tell you lives are on the line when we issue these orders,” he said. Honda said BCSO had received reports of some fatalities but that he could not confirm anything specific at this time.

Cal Fire Chief Darren Read said that well over 1,000 structures in Paradise have been destroyed. When asked if there was a threat that the fire could affect the City of Chico, Read responded that it was possible but noted that the land around Chico was flat and lacked dry brush that could help fuel the blaze. 

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Below: Video taken by a woman escaping the Camp Fire.

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Photo taken in Ukiah at noon today | Chris Ostrom

UPDATE, 2:08 p.m.: A Cal Fire public information officer tells KRCR-TV that the Camp Fire has is now over 18,000 acres with 0 percent containment. Smoke from the blaze has reached Mendocino County. 

Acting Governor Gavin Newsom has issued an emergency proclamation for Butte County.

Officials are warning there is no telling how large this fire could get. After an interview with a Cal Fire spokesman, Sacramento Bee reporter Ryan Lillis shared this alarming tweet:

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UPDATE, 11:55 a.m.: Cal Fire says the fire has grown to well over 8,000 acres at this point. The entirety of Paradise is now under evacuation orders. There have been several structures destroyed and multiple reported injuries. 

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Cal Fire

Original Post: Fueled by intense winds and dry conditions, the “Camp Fire” which began in Butte County around 6:30 a.m. Thursday morning has already burned an estimated 5,000 acres with 0 percent containment, according to Cal Fire. 

The fire is centered in the Feather River Canyon off Highway 70 about five miles east of the town of Paradise which has a population of near 26,000 people. The Butte County Sheriff’s Office has issued mandatory evacuation orders for most residents of Paradise and the smaller communities of Concow and Pulga. More evacuations are expected. 

The Redding Record-Searchlight reports that the evacuations have resulted in gridlock traffic on Skyway, the main route connecting Paradise and Chico, as people attempt to flee the area. Multiple motorists have abandoned their vehicles. The normally two-way road has been converted to one-way to allow more people to escape. 

Cal Fire is continuing to update which public agencies and media outlets are tallying road closures and evacuation orders.

As they’ve already done multiple times this year, KRCR-TV in Redding has switched over to full live fire coverage. Tune in below.