News
California will burn
Don Hankins respects fire. For the better part of two decades, as a graduate student as UC Davis and professor at Chico State, he’s studied how wildfires burn and move. He knows their patterns, their […]
Wildfire
Opinions
Second & Flume: Burning questions
How could Butte County become the site of a wildfire-related mass casualty event less than two years after 85 people were killed by the Camp Fire? I’ve been stuck on that question since Sept. 9, […]
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Volunteer valor
Katherine Molohon has called Berry Creek home for the entirety of her 34 years. As a child, she played in the mountain town’s creeks and walked its winding, wooded roads. She attended Berry Creek Elementary […]
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Holding the lines
A cloud of smoke grew enormous on Butte County’s eastern horizon Sunday afternoon (Sept. 27) as high northeasterly winds predicted for the day fanned the flames of the North Complex Fire and stoked a new […]
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A sweet surprise
When Emily Zimmerman lost her Paradise home to the Camp Fire, her cupcake shop, Lovely Layers Cakery, became her refuge. She leaned into her second home, continuing to work and bake sweet treats while she […]
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Animal Corps
The only wildlife spotted by CN&R reporters during a Sept. 10 trek into areas ravaged by the North Complex Fire were a pair of ravens ominously perched on a guardrail near the Bidwell Bar Bridge; […]
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A smoky state
Due to millions of acres of wildfires burning in California, Oregon and Washington, the West Coast states had the worst air quality in the world this past weekend. Saturday and Sunday (Sept. 12-13) Chico’s air […]
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‘Zero containment’ for Butte County wildfire
Update (Sept. 11, 7 a.m.): The West Zone of the North Complex grew overnight by more than 5,000 acres. It’s now at 70,412 acres with 5 percent containment. Seven more deaths have been confirmed for […]
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North Complex Fire: Berry Creek images
A slideshow of images from the Berry Creek area taken in the wake of the North Complex: West Zone fire that swept through the area Sept. 8-9. Stay up to date on the fires and […]
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Wildfire engulfs eastern Butte County
Update (Sept. 9, 7:28 p.m.): During an operational update tonight, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea announced that three people have died in the Bear Fire. Other than revealing that two of the deceased were found […]
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Butte County evacuation orders
Update (Sept. 9, 12:50 a.m.): Evacuation orders in Butte County have expanded. In addition to the areas below, Cherokee Road at Hwy 70 south to Thompson Flat Cemetery Road and all areas east to Lake […]
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Sifting through the recovery
It’s been almost two years since the Camp Fire destroyed Concow, and Inez Salinas is bathing her 4-year-old daughter in a plastic bin. River enjoys bath time with Mom, Salinas said, and couldn’t care less […]
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Lightning fire updates
Update: At 4:40 p.m. today (Aug. 18), Cal Fire updated the the Butte Lightning Complex situation, raising the number of all active fires in the county to 35, and the acreage burned to 1,500 (including […]
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Delivered from hunger
Jenny Lowrey couldn’t contain her excitement when the semi pulled into Yankee Hill Hardware on July 31. “Oh my god. Seventeen-hundred families are going to get free food today,” she said. “Ah, I love this!” […]
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Disaster County
In early March, as coronavirus started to spread through the Sacramento Valley, Katy Thoma remained optimistic. She understood the gravity of the situation—Butte County officials had recently declared both a local emergency and a local […]