The winter of 1923-24 was one of the driest on record for the State of California. Springs that had always flowed, dried up. With the tinder dry conditions of the summer of 1924, it became a volatile fire year, and the Lassen region was of no exception.
On Monday, July 28, 1924, sparks from a steam donkey engine operating near Fruit Growers Camp D, just west of Eagle Lake. In less than a hour the blaze turned into a firestorm, spreading over four miles and destroying three steam donkey engines, eight railroad flat cars, one water tank car and about three miles of railroad track. Nearly one thousand men fought the fire that destroyed over 7,000 acres. It cost Fruit Growers $34,378.20 in suppression cost.