News
The watcher
Ken Jordan calls it “spotting smokes,” and it’s an easy job when the mountain air is clear: “Sometimes, it’s second nature to spot a smoke without even looking for it.” White, gray or bluish, woodsmoke […]
wildfire
News
‘All hands on deck’
by Rachel Becker and Julie Cart for CalMatters CalMatters is an independent public journalism venture covering California state politics and government. For more info, visit calmatters.org. Painting alarming scenes of fires, floods and economic disruption, the […]
Opinions
Our wildfire breaking point
This guest comment is part of special wildfire report on the one-year anniversary of the North Complex Fire’s destruction of Berry Creek and Feather Falls. Find links for more articles in this series at the […]
Guest feature
News
‘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 […]
News
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 […]
News
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 […]
News
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 […]
News
Day of reckoning
Michael Hanko leaned over the lectern in a Chico courtroom as if his legs would give out, mustering the strength to continue speaking about the sibling he lost in the Camp Fire. His was the […]
News
Guilty pleas from PG&E
On Tuesday morning (June 16) at Butte County Superior Court, more than 19 months after the Camp Fire, PG&E pleaded guilty to causing the mega blaze as well as 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter linked […]
Camp Fire
Can PG&E limit outages?
While economists are trying to determine just how stark the new COVID-19 reality is for mom-and-pop businesses, a recent survey by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce suggests the situation hasn’t hit rock bottom: Forty-three percent of […]