The Loyalton Fire, just west of the Nevada state line, burned nearly 30,000 acres in two days and jumped off Highways 395 and 70 at Hallelujah Junction.
The fire was reported at 4.30pm Friday along Staverville Road four miles east of Loyalton. On Saturday morning, it was reported on 2,300 acres and containing 5%; within 24 hours it had grown to 20,000 acres.
On Saturday afternoon, the National Weather Service’s office in Reno tweeted an urgent warning of a fire tornado in Roberts Canyon: “Extremely dangerous fire behavior … spinning columns and potential for fireflies.”
At noon on Sunday, an 8-mile stretch of Highway 70 was closed, and the Lassen County Sheriff’s office issued evacuation orders for the northern edge of the fire. By late afternoon, the highway had reopened and those mandatory evacuations were lifted, but residents were instructed to leave homes west of Highway 395 on the south side of the fire.
A report from the Tahoe National Forest at 5 a.m. Sunday put the area burning at 29,829, or 46 square miles.
The fire zone is located 25 miles north of Truckee, 18 miles northwest of Reno. Heavy smoke filled the Washoe Valley on Sunday.
