CLICK HERE if you’re on a mobile device.
Newly released drone videos, 360-degree visualizations and before-and-after comparison photos show the destruction of the North Complex Fire near the town of Berry Creek, in Butte County.
The images were shared by the Butte County Sheriff’s Office in a news release Saturday. They were created with the help of the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, which used drones to conduct “rapid areal assessment” of the areas damaged by the fire, which has caused 15 deaths, destroyed 1,147 structures and burned 289,951 acres in Plumas and Butte counties.
The videos and photos show the extent of the devastation of the fire. One tool allows viewers to see video footage of a drone traveling along Bald Rock Road and Oro Quincy Highway from Brush Creek to just west of Berry Creek. On what were green, tree-lined roads, the camera shows ashes and burned trees, some still with green and orange leaves and others little more than blackened trunks.
Another allows users to swipe between before and after photos from above, showing areas burned just south of Berry Creek, including directly around Madrone Lake. In one section, what used to be two large structures surrounded by thick tree cover is revealed to now be rubble in an ash-colored field with a few green trees still standing.
The final tool shared provides 360-degree panoramic drone photos from various points throughout the North Complex Fire, again revealing destroyed homes, vehicles and other structures, and a forest charred and in some parts completely consumed by the fire.
The Alameda County team worked with Cal Fire Air Operations and the Federal Aviation Administration to document the areas most affected in Berry Creek and Feather Falls, starting on Sept. 15, the Butte County Sheriff’s Office said in its news release. The North Complex Fire, which started on Aug. 18, is 58% contained.
