3 dead in Shasta County Zogg Fire

The fire began on Sunday and has since spread quickly, prompting evacuation orders and road closures.

Three people have died due to the Zogg Fire in Shasta County, according to Sheriff Eric Magrini. Magrini didn't offer any additional details on those who died.

Magrini said the fire has pushed about 1,250 people out of their homes due to evacuations, but with the fire rapidly expanding, those numbers could grow.

Cal Fire Operation Sections Chief Chris Waters said there is high intensity fire behavior on all sides of the blaze as it continues to burn out of Clear Creek and into the Carr Fire burn scar.

He said the fire continues to move south toward Highway 36 as you move along Cottonwood Creek and toward the Tehama County line. Fire officials said the fire has also been getting into trees and spotting up to a mile away.

"Until this red flag warnings and these winds start to dissipate, we're not going to make a lot of headway on suppression efforts other than around the communities, subdivisions, and then help support the evacuation efforts," said Chief Waters.

Cal Fire SHU will provide an update on the Zogg Fire at 4:00 p.m., available to watch on the unit's Facebook page. The current status of the fire will be discussed, and officials will be able to answer questions.

A new Incident Management Team [IMT] has been deployed to fight the Zogg Fire. IMT 3 is now activated in Shasta County to battle the blaze.

A separate IMT team was also activated for the growing Glass Fire in Sonoma and Napa County. IMT are usually comprised of local, state, and Federal Type 1 first responders.

The Zogg Fire in Shasta County has doubled in acres since the Cal Fire Shasta Trinity Unit last provided updates on Sunday night. The fire now stands at 15,000 acres and zero containment.

Cal Fire SHU initially responded to the fire at Zogg Mine Road and Horse Canyon Way where it spread quickly. Firefighters said the blaze was initially at 50 acres before updating within the hour to note that it reached 400 acres. As of 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, it reached 7,000 acres.

Several mandatory evacuation orders have been issued, including for all areas south of South Fork Road and Zogg Mine Road, south along Gas Point corridor including all residents along Gas Point Road to Foster Drive, Platina Road west to Tehama County line.

According to Cal Fire, in 2019, California wildfires burned just under 260,000 acres from 7,860 incidents. Over 700 structures were damaged or destroyed and three people were killed. This follower two years of some of the “deadliest and most destructive wildfires” in California history.