Evacuation order issued in Placer County for Lehi Fire burning west of Newcastle
Mandatory evacuations were underway Friday afternoon due to a fire near the Placer County town of Newcastle, authorities said.
The vegetation fire had burned about nine acres near Lehi Lane, just north of Highway 193, Cal Fire’s Nevada-Yuba-Placer unit said in a social media post shortly after 6 p.m., up from two acres about an hour earlier. At least one structure was involved in the fire, Cal Fire said.
The Placer County Sheriff’s Office issued an evacuation order for Lehi Lane, Winter Snow Court, Autumn Wind Court and Summer Star Way. Evacuation warnings were in place as of 6 p.m. for areas south and east of Ridge Road through to Taylor Road; and north and east of Highway 193 at Skyview through to Taylor Road.
“Deputies are going door to door in the area advising residents to evacuate,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post just before 5 p.m.
Cal Fire in a 6:20 p.m. update said investigators determined the Lehi Fire was caused by lawn mowing in dry grass.
The fire was burning with a “moderate” rate of spread and at least one structure was threatened, Cal Fire officials wrote.
Another fire to the northeast, dubbed the Weimar Fire, has also prompted evacuations, according to the Sheriff’s Office. The fire started just before 2 p.m. but prompted deputies to go “door to door evacuating residents in the area.”
The Weimar Fire, burning on the 21000 block of Canyon Way near Interstate 80, has burned at least two acres.
An evacuation order for the Weimar Fire was issued for Canyon Way north of I-80, the Sheriff’s Office said. A warning was in place for the Serenity Ridge area.
