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Jen Carter Smitt wasn’t even aware that a new fire had broken out when she got the call to evacuate her Grass Valley apartment around 3:45 p.m. Wednesday afternoon.
It’s been hazy for days in Sierra communities like his, which are sandwiched between the massive Dixie Fire burning to the north and the Caldor Fire encroaching on Lake Tahoe to the south.
“At this point, do I smell smoke? I don’t even know, ”said Carter Smitt, who watched planes fight the blaze from his car parked on a nearby hill late Wednesday afternoon.
Carter Smitt was part of the first wave of mandatory evacuations ordered by emergency officials in Grass Valley on Wednesday. The blaze broke out and quickly spread to 25 acres, posing “an immediate threat to life,” according to evacuation alerts from the Grass Valley Police Department and the Nevada County Emergency Services Office.
Areas subject to evacuation orders include areas GRS-E280 and GRS-E222 on the northeast side of Grass Valley, in the area east of Hwy 20, north of East Bennett Road, and west of Brunswick Road.
Nearby, Atria & Crystal Ridge Assisted Living and the Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital have been placed under Refugee Order. A temporary evacuation point has been established at Nevada Union High School.
At 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Cal Fire reported that the blaze was 60% under control after burning 59 acres just across the highway from downtown Grass Valley. As progress slowed, point fires remained a concern and road closures and evacuation orders were still in effect.
For Carter Smitt, a Bay Area native who moved to Grass Valley 20 years ago after selling her Oakland rental, Wednesday was the first time she had to leave her home after years of watching the fires. of forest in California become more common.
When the time finally came, she grabbed the plastic bin full of important documents and placed her cats Exo and Tess in a collapsible carry bag. Then they waited.
“I’m just going to watch the plume,” Carter Smitt said. “I know which direction to evacuate if I have to.
Lauren Hepler is a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @LAHepler
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