Butte Fire | |
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Date(s) |
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Location |
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Coordinates | 38°19′47″N 120°42′15″W / 38.32974°N 120.70418°W |
Statistics[1][2] | |
Burned area | 70,868 acres (28,679 ha; 111 sq mi; 287 km2) |
Impacts | |
Deaths | 2 |
Structures destroyed |
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Damage |
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Map | |
![]() The footprint of the Butte Fire | |
The Butte Fire was a rapidly moving wildfire during the 2015 California wildfire season that started on September 9 in Amador County, California.[1] The fire burned 70,868 acres (287 km2).
The fire started at 2:26 P.M. on Wednesday, September 9, just east of Jackson, when a tree came into contact with a power line, and quickly grew to over 14,500 acres (59 km2) by that evening.[3] By Thursday, the fire had spread into Calaveras County and more than doubled in size over 32,000 acres (129 km2).[4] Officials stated that the fire was expanding in all directions and that efforts were being hampered by difficult topography.[4]
Early on Friday, September 11, Cal Fire issued a mandatory evacuation for all of San Andreas, as the fire exploded again to 64,000 acres (259 km2), but at 4:30 P.M. PDT, that order was lifted.[5] Officials from the Amador County Unified School District chose to close all schools in the district on Friday as well.[5] Later that day, as the fire continued to grow, Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in Amador and Calaveras counties.[6]
On September 16, the Calaveras County coroner announced that the bodies of two people had been found in the Mokelumne Hill and Mountain Ranch areas.[2]
The total cost of fighting the Butte Fire was estimated by the National Interagency Fire Center at $74.7 million.[7]: 9