2 new blazes strike Nevada County

Firefighters attacked two new blazes on Tuesday as they continued to battle the Lobo and McCourtney fires.

Two smaller fires — one off Wolf Road in South County and the other near Sammie’s Friends on McCourtney Road — erupted around 12:45 p.m., Cal Fire said.

The Garden Fire, off Wolf Road, lead authorities to evacuate about 200 homes. The evacuation was lifted around 4:15 p.m., officials said.

The Garden Fire was about 10 acres and 60 percent contained Tuesday afternoon, said Mary Eldridge, public information officer with Cal Fire.

The blaze burned two structures and a barn, county officials said.

The smaller fire, off West Van Tam Way, was almost 3 acres. It was contained in under an hour, said Tim Person, a Cal Fire battalion chief.

Sammie’s Friends, Nevada County’s animal shelter, evacuated 96 cats, 30 dogs, a pig, two birds and a chicken. Workers returned the animals about two hours after the fire occurred, said Cheryl Wicks, co-founder of the organization.

Lobo, McCourtney

The Lobo Fire, which began late Sunday in the Lake Wildwood and Rough and Ready areas, reached 880 acres on Tuesday. It was at 30 percent containment Tuesday evening.

An order for the Lobo Fire has led to the evacuation of 818 homes. Another 4,280 homes are in an evacuation advisory area, the county’s Office of Emergency Services stated.

The McCourtney Fire, which began late Sunday near the Nevada County Fairgrounds, reached 72 acres and was at 65 percent containment.

That blaze has no mandatory evacuations, though 320 residences are in an evacuation advisory area.

The two fires have destroyed 245 structures and damaged an unknown amount of other buildings. Almost 700 firefighters battled the blaze Tuesday evening, Cal Fire said.

Almost 2,300 PG&E customers remained without power around 3 p.m. Tuesday, a representative said.

To contact Staff Writer Alan Riquelmy, email ariquelmy@theunion.com or call 530-477-4239. Staff Writer Matthew Pera contributed to this report.