Smoke from the 70 Fire in Butte County is visible in the sky to the east of Columbia Avenue and Walsh Street in Grass Valley. (Photo by John Hart)

OROVILLE - Smoke from a 1,000-acre Butte County fire caused Nevada County air officials to declare a health advisory Wednesday.

"That's not all that far for a smoke plume to travel, and sure enough it did," said Joe Fish of the Northern Sierra Air Quality Management District in Grass Valley.

A thick haze blanketed the scenery in every direction and filled pockets like Glenbrook Basin. Breathable particulate levels in Grass Valley were at 100 micrograms per cubic liter, about twice the state standard.

"We've gotten complaints from Lake of the Pines to Lake Wildwood to the Nevada City area," Fish said.

About 20 curious people per hour called the Emergency Command Center in Grass Valley to learn the smoke's source, said Capt. Wendye Stuller of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Two engines from the Nevada County Consolidated and 49er fire districts were sent to the fire, which forced the closure of a nearby elementary school and prompted officials to advise evacuations for more than 100 residents. CDF tanker planes in Grass Valley, using U.S. Forest Service retardant, also responded.

Arson is suspected in the blaze, which is consuming brush and timber in Feather River Canyon near Jarbo Gap, about 20 miles north of Oroville. It started near the Poe Fire from earlier this summer, CDF information officer Mike Campbell said.

The 70 Fire, so named because it was burning along both sides of Highway 70, closed the highway along a 30-mile stretch from Big Bend Road to Greenville Wye.

Officials advised residents of more than 100 homes to evacuate as a precaution, but only three people took shelter at a nearby elementary school, said Janet Marshall, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Flames were within 11/2 miles of the homes on the rural road, she said.

More than 1,000 firefighters fought the blaze amid 30 mph winds and intense heat fueled by the dry brush.

The winds forced the crews to ''take one step forward and two steps back,'' Marshall said.

She said recent fires in the area were fresh in the memory of the firefighters. The Poe Fire this summer destroyed 40 homes, and last year another fire killed a woman and permanently seared the letters C-D-F on a firefighter's back.

The 70 Fire broke out about 5:30 a.m. Wednesday, prompting Concow Elementary School officials to close the school.

The fire was about 30 percent contained Wednesday night. Officials did not have an estimated containment time.

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