PRESS RELEASE
On June 18, 2021 at approximately 1525 hours the Plumas County Sheriffs Office Communications
Center received a report of a structure fire at a residence on North Fourth Street in the City of Portola.
Beckwourth Fire Department and Eastern Plumas Fire Department were immediately dispatched to the
scene.
Multiple 911 calls reported the residence to be fully engulfed. Plumas County Sheriffs Office personnel
arrived on scene and commenced evacuations of the surrounding areas. A Code Red Alert was issued to
the evacuated areas. Hwy 70 was shut down in the area of the fire and the California Highway Patrol
responded to handle traffic control.
An evacuation center has been established at the Portola Station Baptist Church, located at 171 South
Gulling Street in the City of Portola.
Mutual Aid requests were sent out and multiple fire departments have responded to assist. The most
recent information from the Incident Command is there have been three structures destroyed. The fire
has spread into surrounding vegetation and trees. The size of the fire is approximately two acres, with
multiple structures threatened. Crews are currently working to contain the incident and extinguish the
fire.
29-year-old Eric Armstrong has been arrested in connection with the fire and has been booked into the
Plumas County Correctional Facility on a felony charge of 452(b) PC Unlawfully causing a fire that
causes an inhabited structure to burn.
There are no reported injuries related to the fire at this time. The cause of the fire is currently under
investigation by a State Certified Fire Investigator.
More information will be released as it becomes available.
An evacuation order remains in effect for the residents along East Sierra Avenue from North Second
Street to Meadow Way, East Quincy Avenue between North Second Street to North Fourth Street
Rheinfelder Street, and the West end of Rocky Point Road.
The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information in regard to the fire is encouraged to contact
our office by calling 530-283-6300.
