Smoke Fills Sky as Briceburg Fire in Central California Burns

The Briceburg Fire in central California had consumed 3,600 acres with 10 percent containment by Wednesday, October 9, as dry and windy weather made parts of the state “extremely” susceptible to fires, officials said.

The National Weather Service said on Wednesday that gusty wind and low humidity led to “extremely critical” fire conditions for parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, and “critical” conditions in several other areas.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said some people within the immediate vicinity of the Briceburg Fire were evacuated. The agency was also overseeing multiple other active fires in California.

Additionally, power was shut off on Wednesday for nearly 800,000 customers in northern and central California in an attempt to reduce the risk of wildfires, utility company Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) said. A specific power restoration time was not listed by PG&E, but it noted outages could last longer than two days.

This video, taken atop a mountain in Nevada on Tuesday, shows billows of smoke filling the sky as the Briceburg Fire progresses. The video was taken by the Nevada Seismological Laboratory of the University of Nevada, Reno. Credit: Nevada Seismological Laboratory via Storyful