Man survives BTU complex in hog trough

When the BTU (or Butte County) fire burned through the town of Concow, California on Tuesday, destroying 50 homes, Tom Tirey, 49, took refuge in a hog trough after refusing to evacuate. He spent two hours in the trough while the fire burned through his property. He survived, but his trailer and barn didn't.

"We'd been through so many evacuations and false warnings. You cry wolf too many times. This time it really did it," he said.

Wildfire Today talked with a resident of the Paradise area who said that yesterday morning the inversion trapped the smoke, preventing most of the aircraft from working the fire, but in the afternoon it cleared enough that air tankers and helicopters were able to assist the firefighters on the ground. Today, he said the smoke which had been extremely thick for days, had cleared on the south end of the fire, and that he "can actually breathe".

The number of houses that are currently threatened by the fire has been reduced from 3,800 to 300 by CalFire. The fire is 49,500 acres and is 55% contained.

An autopsy is scheduled for today or tomorrow to confirm the indenty and the cause of death of the person whose body was found yesterday in a burned house in Concow.

Thanks to Joel for contributing some of the information above.