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The Red Bank Fire west of Red Bluff is now 9 percent contained at 7,754 acres, but officials said Saturday that low weekend humidity coupled with strong winds “could hamper containment efforts.” 

Both acreage and containment are up slightly from Friday night, when the fire burning 25 miles west of Red Bluff near Balis Bell Road was 7 percent contained at 7,340 acres. 

Still, fire officials cautioned that there was “poor humidity recovery overnight,” and that combined with increasing weekend winds “could hamper containment efforts.”

As of Saturday morning, officials estimated that the 9 percent contained represented 698 acres.

The fire broke out Thursday afternoon after lightning struck the area, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. 

The latest evacuation orders and warnings are as follows: 

Mandatory Evacuations: Areas south of Highway 36 between Tedoc and Vestal roads, and between the Shasta-Trinity National Forest border and Four Corners intersection.

Evacuation Warning: The greater Red Banks Community east of Joint Road on and from Bell Road.

More: Red Bank Fire: What we know Friday about the fire burning near Redding

More: Red Bank Fire map: Here’s where evacuations have been ordered; 25 structures threatened

More: Red Bank Fire update: Blaze burning west of Red Bluff grows to 7,340 acres, 7% contained

Alayna Shulman covers a little bit of everything for the Record Searchlight. In particular, she loves writing about the issues of this community through long-form storytelling. Her work often centers on local crime, features and politics, and has won awards for best writing, best business coverage and best investigative reporting in the California News Publishers Association’s Better Newspapers Contest. Follow her on Twitter (@ashulman_RS), call her at 530-225-8372 and, to support her work, please subscribe

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