The 3,323-acre Bear Fire is now 100% contained. 

The Bear Fire was reported at 2 p.m. on September 2 off Bear Valley Road on the Tahoe National Forest, south of the community of Sierra Brooks in Sierra County. 

More information and tips on water conservation are available on the Sierra County Sheriff's Office Facebook page.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Download PDF Bear Fire map

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SEPTEMBER 6, 7:05 A.M. UPDATE

The Bear Fire, in Sierra County, is slowly growing in containment. 

CAL FIRE says the 3,327-acre wildfire is 15% contained. 

Some mandatory evacuation orders due to the fire have been downgraded.

Residents of the Sierra Brooks community were able to return home today after days of mandatory evacuations after the orders for their community were changed to warnings.

Entry to the community requires identification.

Sierra County has opened a dumpster at the Sierra Brooks Lodge to help residents get rid of any food that may have spoiled while they were away.

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SEPTEMBER 5, 7:15 A.M. UPDATE

The Bear Fire is now 3,327 acres and still 0% contained after starting early Monday afternoon south of Sierra Brooks in Sierra County. 

Firefighters say they're made progress building lines around the perimeter of the fire in the last couple of days, but they're bracing for windier weather in the day ahead.

Evacuations are improving because of the fire, with the community Sierra Brooks now downgraded to a warning. However, some evacuations orders are still in place around the fire.

CAL FIRE, the Forest Service, and Sierra County Sheriff's Office will hold a community meeting on Thursday evening.

It will be in-person at Sierraville Elementary School at 7 p.m. - or you can watch it live on the Tahoe National Forest Facebook page below -

Hundreds of people in the Loyalton area were without power on Tuesday but it has since been restored to several areas.           

The sheriff's office says Sierra County Social Services is available to address individual emergency needs at 202 Front Street in Loyalton or by calling 530-993-6700. 
 
Sierra-Plumas Unified School District indicates they will continue to work with law enforcement, OES, and fire officials to make decisions about school one day at a time using all relevant information. They will continue to communicate school closure information through email and text systems, the District Facebook page, and the automated all-call system.

The cause of the wildfire remains under investigation. 

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

SEPTEMBER 3, 10:15 P.M. UPDATE:

The Liberty Energy and Water website, which has been tracking outages related to the Bear Fire since they first began, currently shows no outages in the area.

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SEPTEMBER 3, 6:45 P.M. UPDATE: 

The size of the Bear Fire has grown to 2,000 acres, 0% containment according to CalFire's website.

Utility outages should no longer be affecting anyone in Portola, according to Liberty Energy and Water.

Loyalton is still suffering outages - around 230 people are affected, and there are a small number of customers in South Lake Tahoe that are affected as well.

You can keep up with outage information using Liberty Energy's outage site.

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SEPTEMBER 3, 5:25 P.M. UPDATE:

The Sierra County Sheriff’s Office has expanded evacuation warnings for the Bear Fire.

In a thread on X, the U.S. Forest Service says fire crews are working effortlessly to establish containment lines. Air support is also helping to contain the fire.

Winds throughout the night are expected to blow steadily from the west at around 10 miles per hour.

A complete and updated list of evacuation orders and warnings associated with the fire can be found at this link.

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SEPTEMBER 3, 3:40 P.M. UPDATE: 

The size of the Bear Fire has grown to 1,578 acres, 0% containment according to CalFire's website.

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Bear Fire Photos and Video

Bear Fire Forest Cam
Bear Fire Forest Cam
Bear Fire 1
Bear Fire 1
Bear Fire 2
Bear Fire 2
Bear Fire Vid 1
Bear Fire Vid 1
Bear Fire Vid 2
Bear Fire Vid 2

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SEPTEMBER 3, 2:32 P.M. UPDATE:

NV Energy, in coordination with Plumas Sierra, will be attempting a re-energization of most Loyalton customers currently without power.

To complete this re-energization, NV Energy will have to temporarily shut down power to Portola for about one hour.

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SEPTEMBER 3, 1:51 P.M. UPDATE:

Outdoor watering is now suspended for residents of Sierra Brooks due to the Bear Fire.

Officials are asking everyone in the area to please conserve indoor use of water as much as possible while crews fight the fire.

For questions or to get additional information, contact the Sierra County Department of Public Works at (530) 289-3201.

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SEPTEMBER 3, 11:21 A.M. UPDATE:

NV Energy has turned off its line serving portions of Sierra County due to the Bear Fire.

Liberty Utilities Lake Tahoe customers in that area are experiencing a power outage due to the shutoff.

No restoration time is currently available. NV Energy is preparing teams to assess the area once fire officials deem it is safe to do so.

Liberty Utilities customers can view an outage map on the Liberty Energy and Water website.

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SEPTEMBER 3, 9:30 A.M. UPDATE: 

The size of the Bear Fire has grown to 1,391 acres, 0 % containment according to CalFire's website.

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7:04 P.M. UPDATE

Evacuation orders and warnings have been updated for the Bear Fire per CalFire's website.

Evacuation orders are in place for the areas of SIE-E030, SIE-E031 and SIE-E032.

An evacuation order is an immediate threat to life - an order by law enforcement to leave immediately. The areas are lawfully closed to public access.

Evacuation Map

Evacuation warnings are in place for the areas of SIE-E022, SIE-E023, SIE-E027, SIE-E028 and SIE-E029.

An evacuation warning is for a potential threat to life and/or property. Those who require additional time to evacuate, and those with pets and livestock should leave immediately.

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6:47 P.M. UPDATE

The most recent update from the U.S. Forest Service says that sources are projecting the fire to be close to 800 acres in size.

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5:15 P.M. UPDATE

As of the most recent update from the U.S. Forest Service the Bear Fire has been mapped at 197 acres.

In a social media post, the Forest Service said that while the fire has been mapped at 197 acres resources on scene are estimating it to be somewhere between 200 and 250 acres.

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4:35 P.M. UPDATE

The Bear Fire has increased in size to just less than 64 acres.

The U.S. Forest Service released the updated size just after 4:20 p.m.

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ORIGINAL STORY

The Tahoe National Forest Fire resources are responding to a wildfire that has popped up on the east side of the forest, near Sierra Brooks.

Sierra Brooks is to the west of the North Valleys/Cold Springs, across the state line.

The forest service reports that the fire is currently at 30-40 acres in size, and has a high rate of spread.

A mandatory evacuation order has been issued for Sierra Brooks by the Sierra County Sheriff's Office, as officials have deemed that there is an immediate threat to anyone in the area.

The area is closed to public access and residents are ordered to leave immediately.

We'll provide more information on this wildfire as we receive it.