A wildfire was first reported Friday morning at 10:24 a.m. on Bald Rock Road on private land in Butte County, destroying or damaging four mobile homes, a shed, and multiple trees.
The blaze was reported in Berry Creek. The Sacramento Bee had initially reported the blaze Friday afternoon, citing the National Interagency Fire Center, though at that point containment figures and a determined cause were not yet available. The American Red Cross was requested to help displaced residents.
A Community Still Recovering From 2020
Berry Creek is no stranger to fire trauma. The mountain community was largely incinerated in September 2020 by the Bear Fire, part of the North Complex fires, which destroyed more than 1,500 structures and killed 16 residents, according to North State Public Radio. Recovery has been agonizingly slow in the years since.
A September 2025 investigation by the Los Angeles Times found that only 5% of homes destroyed in Berry Creek during that fire had been rebuilt, the lowest rebuilding rate of any major California wildfire zone. The newspaper reported that high insurance costs and widespread poverty in the unincorporated mountain area have left hundreds of residents living in RVs and temporary mobile homes in the years since the Bear Fire, a backdrop that makes this week's loss of four more mobile homes especially painful for a community that never fully recovered.
Burn Ban Already in Effect
The Encina Fire ignited under an active regional fire restriction. CAL FIRE suspended burn permits, while burning is prohibited in other areas, per the Butte County Air Quality Management District. It is not yet known whether the Encina Fire's cause has been determined, as that information was not available in early reporting on the blaze.
CAL FIRE law enforcement personnel recorded 24 arson arrests in the county in 2026 through mid-September, following 30 such arrests in 2025, according to the Daily Dispatch. In January, KRCR News Channel 7 reported that a Butte County man was sentenced to 20 years in state prison for recklessly starting the July 2024 Thompson Fire near Oroville with a firework, a blaze that destroyed 13 homes and 21 other structures.
A County Defined by Fire Risk
Butte County's foothill and mountain communities have a history of destructive wildfires. The November 2018 Camp Fire in nearby Paradise and Magalia killed 85 people.
