Elephant Fire: Hundreds of acres burn in Sierra, Lassen counties
LIVE FROM KCRA THREE NEWS. WE BEGIN WITH BREAKING NEWS AT BREAKING NEWS OUT OF SIERRA COUNTY TONIGHT NEAR THE LASSEN COUNTY BORDER. THE ELEPHANT FIRE HAS NOW SCORCHED OVER 2100 ACRES. HERE’S A LIVE LOOK FROM THE. CALIFORNIA CAMERA. THE CAL FIRE SAYS IT’S BURNING NORTH OF THE LOYALTON AND HIGHWAY 49. EVACUATION WARNINGS ARE IN PLACE IN THE LONG VALLEY AREA OFF OF SCOTT ROAD THAT IS ON THE LASSEN COUNTY SIDE. YOU CAN SEE ALL OF THAT SMOKE COMING UP OFF THIS FIRE RIGHT NOW. WE WANT TO BRING IN OUR METEOROLOGIST, OPHELIA YOUNG, WHO’S TRACKING THE WIND CONDITIONS. I CAN SEE THE WIND IS PRETTY STRONG OUT THERE. I SEE THAT SMOKE BLOWING RIGHT NOW. YEAH. AND THAT’S NOT HELPING FIREFIGHTERS AT ALL. IN FACT, I’M TRACKING WIND CONDITIONS FOR THREE FIRES THAT BROKE OUT TODAY. WE HAVE ONE IN PLUMAS COUNTY. THAT ONE IS THE TWAIN FIRE. WE EARLIER TOLD YOU ABOUT THE MYSTIC FIRE THAT’S BURNING IN NEVADA COUNTY. BUT THE BIGGEST ONE IS THE ELEPHANT FIRE THAT’S BURNING ON THE BORDER OF PLUMAS AND SIERRA COUNTY. INCREDIBLE THAT IT’S GROWN TO MORE THAN 2000 ACRES IN JUST FOUR HOURS. IT WAS REPORTED AT 130 EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON. NOW, THE CONDITIONS CURRENTLY AT LOYALTON, WHICH IS WHERE THAT FIRE IS BURNING NEAR TEMPERATURES IN THE UPPER 80S. AND I JUST TOOK THESE READINGS MAYBE ABOUT 15 MINUTES AGO. WE DO HAVE A WIND COMING OUT OF THE WEST SOUTHWEST. IT IS GUSTING TO ABOUT 17MPH, WHICH IS THE REASON WHY AREAS EAST OF THE FIRE ARE UNDER EVACUATION WARNINGS, AND THAT HUMIDITY IS DOWN TO 15%, WHICH MEANS THE AIR IS VERY DRY. NOW THE FORECAST DOES GET BETTER. YES, THERE ARE GUSTY WINDS RIGHT NOW, BUT THOSE WINDS SHOULD CALM DOWN AFTER 8:00 AND REMAIN, FOR THE MOST PART, CALM OVERNIGHT. SO HOPEFULLY FIREFIGHTERS CAN TAKE OUT THIS FIRE TONIGHT AND TOMORROW MORNING. BECAUSE TOMORROW LATE MORNING, EARLY AFTERNOON, THOSE WIND GUSTS DO PICK BACK UP AGAIN AND COULD EXCEED 20MPH THROUGH THE AFTERNOON TOMORROW. THE OTHER PIECE OF GOOD NEWS IS HUMIDITY IS GOING UP. THERE’S INCREASING MOISTURE IN OUR ATMOSPHERE BECAUSE WE’RE GETTING THIS MONSOON MOISTURE AND HOPEFULLY THAT ADDITIONAL MOISTURE WILL WORK TO SLOW THE SPREAD OF THAT. AND ANY FIRES. NOW WE SEE THE MOISTURE IN THE AIR AS WE WALK OUTSIDE THIS AFTERNOON. THERE’S MORE CLOUDS IN THE SKIES. AND WHEN YOU LOOK TOP DOWN ON THE SATELLITE IMAGERY, YOU CAN SEE IT DRIVING IN FROM THE SOUTH. AGAIN, THIS IS MONSOON MOISTURE THAT COULD TURN INTO A FEW STORMS IN THE SIERRA AS EARLY AS TOMORROW AFTERNOON. NOW, CHANCE OF STORMS DO GO DOWN AS WE WORK INTO NEXT WEEK. THAT DOES MEAN TEMPERATURES GO UP AND THE POTENTIAL FOR TRIPLE DIGIT TEMPERATURES RETURNS TO YO
Elephant Fire: Hundreds of acres burn in Sierra, Lassen counties
Updated: 7:30 PM PDT Jul 11, 2026
More than 2,000 acres have burned in Sierra and Lassen counties on Saturday due to a fast-moving wildfire, officials said. The U.S. Forest Service said the Elephant Fire began burning east of Loyalton. It was last reported at 2300 acres burned.The Lassen County Sheriff’s Office said the fire has prompted an evacuation warning in Lassen County for Zone LAS-451-A near Highway 49 and Dotta Lane. See a map of the evacuation zone here. The Sierra County Sheriff’s Office said it is helping Lassen County with evacuation warnings. Although the fire is burning both sides of the county border, there are no evacuation warnings or orders in Sierra County. The fire is 5% contained as of 6:30 p.m. See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel | Make KCRA a preferred news source in Google
More than 2,000 acres have burned in Sierra and Lassen counties on Saturday due to a fast-moving wildfire, officials said.
The U.S. Forest Service said the Elephant Fire began burning east of Loyalton. It was last reported at 2300 acres burned.
The Lassen County Sheriff’s Office said the fire has prompted an evacuation warning in Lassen County for Zone LAS-451-A near Highway 49 and Dotta Lane. See a map of the evacuation zone here.
The Sierra County Sheriff’s Office said it is helping Lassen County with evacuation warnings. Although the fire is burning both sides of the county border, there are no evacuation warnings or orders in Sierra County.
The fire is 5% contained as of 6:30 p.m.
See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel | Make KCRA a preferred news source in Google