Crews gain upper hand of wildfire near Nevada City


The Pleasant Fire grew to 70 acres west of Nevada City on Saturday August 20, 2022.

Courtesy PG&E via AlertWildfire

Firefighters battling a wildfire west of Nevada City had gained the upper hand Sunday morning, by which point the blaze had charred 48 acres and was 30 % contained.

The Pleasant Fire that flared up about 2:30 p.m. on Saturday between Owl Creek Road and Lost Ranch Way initially seemed to threaten structures in the Sierra foothills town, prompting law enforcement to close roads and mandate evacuations.

But by nightfall officials at Cal Fire had reduced their estimates of the wildfire’s size from 70 acres to 47. The Nevada County Sheriff lifted evacuation orders, and crews appeared to make steady progress as the fire burned an additional acre overnight.

As of Sunday the threat to homes and other buildings “had been mitigated,” Capt. Robert Foxworthy, a spokesperson for Cal Fire, told the Chronicle.

“I would say crews are making good headway,” Foxworthy said. “The forward progress has stopped.”

Investigators are trying to determine what caused the fire.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelswan

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