Elephant Fire in Tahoe National Forest burns 12,300 acres, evacuation orders remain in place

By Brandon Downs

Evacuation orders remained in place Monday for the Elephant Fire that has burned more than 12,300 acres in Northern California’s Tahoe National Forest.

U.S. Forest Service officials said the Elephant Fire, burning in Sierra County at the southern ends of Lassen and Plumas counties, remained 5% contained as of Monday afternoon.

Crews said ridgetop winds, dry fuels and difficult terrain are challenging the firefight efforts. 

The fire started Saturday afternoon to the northeast of the community of Loyalton, located within the Sierra Nevada mountains just west of the Sierra Valley. The fire has primarily burned in grass with some snags, brush and timber, and is burning within the 2020 Loyalton Fire scar. 

Fire crews say that the fire could impact areas like Scott Road, Chilcoot and Highway 395 near Hallelujah Junction.

The Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative said Sunday night that customers near South Scott Road may see power outages due to the spread of the fire.

The Sierra County Sheriff’s Office said on Monday that it is investigating a report of an illegal drone flying in the vicinity of the fire.

“The preliminary investigation indicates the drone was not only operated in a manner that interfered with active firefighting aircraft, but was also flown at an altitude that exceeded legal operating limits and within airspace that had been closed under a Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) established for wildfire suppression operations,” the sheriff’s office said.

Evacuation information

The Lassen County Sheriff’s Office upgraded an evacuation warning for zone LAS-451-A to an order around 4:15 p.m. on Sunday. An evacuation warning was issued for LAS-671-B.

One zone in Plumas County was also under an evacuation warning: PLU-114. These orders remained in place as of Monday afternoon.

The Sierra County Sheriff’s Office said there is no immediate threat to the communities of Sierra Brooks or Loyalton. The county’s sheriff’s office said it’s continuing to monitor the fire and will issue notifications if evacuation warnings or other measures are needed. 

Air and ground resources have responded to battle the fire, building bulldozer lines and dropping fire retardant and buckets of water.

It’s unknown what started the fire.

Loyalton is about 140 miles northeast of Sacramento and about 44 miles northwest of Reno.