Qualla: Storrie Fire https://qualla.com/storrie-fire en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:03 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/9/r/1/e/storrie-fire-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Storrie Fire https://qualla.com/storrie-fire Storrie Fire: Introduction https://qualla.com/storrie-fire/ Photo credit Penitentes, Public domain. The five-person Union Pacific crew was doing routine work on the Feather River Route that August afternoon in 2000. Using a saw to cut through rail, then a grinder to smooth the edge, they worked in the steep terrain near the tiny community of Storrie. Later tests would show their sawing process could throw fragments of hot metal nearly 40 feet. The workers had not employed spark shields. They had not cleared flammable material from the area. In the drought-parched canyon, where temperatures had stayed hot and dry for weeks, a single spark was all it took. Within hours, fire was racing up the rugged slopes of the Feather River Canyon.

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]]> Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/r/1/e/storrie-fire-wp/9r1e-storrie-fire-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Storrie Fire: Canyon of Fire https://qualla.com/storrie-fire/ Photo credit Penitentes, Public domain. The Feather River Canyon is a funnel for flame. The gorge runs much of the width of the Sierra Nevada range, winding northeast from Lake Oroville toward Indian Valley and Lake Almanor. In places, canyon walls rise more than 5,000 feet from the river to surrounding peaks. Before t...

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]]> Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/r/1/e/storrie-fire-wp/9r1e-storrie-fire-canyon-of-fire.mp3 0:06 2 full Storrie Fire: Spotting Ahead https://qualla.com/storrie-fire/ Photo credit Penitentes, Public domain. On August 19, winds drove the fire with terrifying speed. The burned area more than doubled to 5,000 acres as embers launched ahead of the main fire front, landing more than a mile away in the Indian Creek drainage. Flames jumped across the Feather River Canyon and Highway 70 for...

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]]> Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/r/1/e/storrie-fire-wp/9r1e-storrie-fire-spotting-ahead.mp3 0:06 3 full Storrie Fire: Labor Day Relief https://qualla.com/storrie-fire/ Photo credit Penitentes, Public domain. By early September, the Storrie Fire had burned more than 50,000 acres, with over 18,000 of those in the Bucks Lake Wilderness. Flames had approached within three miles of Chester. Then the weather shifted. Over Labor Day weekend, nearly an inch of rain fell on the fire area, aid...

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]]> Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/r/1/e/storrie-fire-wp/9r1e-storrie-fire-labor-day-relief.mp3 0:06 4 full Storrie Fire: What Is a Forest Worth? https://qualla.com/storrie-fire/ Photo credit Penitentes, Public domain. In 2006, the U.S. government sued Union Pacific for $200 million. The railroad's crew members gave conflicting sworn testimony about how they had responded when they first noticed fire: two said they put water on it, two said they did not; two said they stomped on it, three said ...

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]]> Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/r/1/e/storrie-fire-wp/9r1e-storrie-fire-what-is-a-forest-worth.mp3 0:06 5 full Storrie Fire: The $102 Million Lesson https://qualla.com/storrie-fire/ Photo credit Penitentes, Public domain. Union Pacific settled for $102 million, which the company paid from insurance proceeds. The settlement acknowledged that a wildfire's true cost extends far beyond the timber that burns. The Storrie Fire's aftermath also revealed tensions over forest management. Environmental grou...

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]]> Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/r/1/e/storrie-fire-wp/9r1e-storrie-fire-the-102-million-lesson.mp3 0:06 6 full