California wildfires threaten mountain towns as blaze intensifies, A mountain town was standing by to evacuate and residents across a huge swath of northern California were warned of “explosive” conditions as a fierce wildfire across more than 100 square miles intensified.
The California governor, Jerry Brown, declared a state of emergency for the counties involved as fire approached the town of San Andreas, about 60 miles south-east of Sacramento in the Sierra Nevada region.
Some homes were engulfed and thousands were threatened as flames spread quickly up steep terrain that made it extremely difficult for emergency services to hold them back.
A blaze that covered one square mile on Thursday quickly burned more than 100 square miles and was only 5% contained by Friday evening. By Saturday afternoon firefighters had gained some ground and containment had increased to about 10%, fire officials said.
Four firefighters were injured on Saturday, sustaining second-degree burns, officials said.If you see smoke or fire approaching your community, evacuate the area immediately,” incident commander Phil Veneris of the California department of forestry and fire protection, known as Cal Fire, warned residents of the gold rush town of San Andreas and the surrounding two counties.
The department warned the region to be prepared for “explosive fire conditions”.
The exact cause of the latest wildfire was yet to be established but conditions were extremely dangerous after a heatwave brought temperatures in the 90s, adding to the intense drought now in its fourth year in California.
San Andreas resident Fred Oshiro, 85, said that he, his wife and his sister-in-law had loaded up the car and gone in search of the local evacuation center. “We were going to stay in the house and watch the fire but the sheriff said you’d better take a hike,” he said.
“If the house burns down we’ll lose a lot. There’s the three of us and some essentials,” he added.More than 2,500 firefighters and 20 air tankers were flying over the flames dumping retardant “from sunup to sundown”, the department said.
The explosive growth of what was dubbed the Valley fire forced authorities to order mandatory evacuations of a number of communities, including all of Hidden Valley Lake, which has about 5,500 people, according to the Lake county sheriff’s office.
About 100 miles to the south-east, the so-called Butte fire destroyed 86 homes and 51 outbuildings in rural Amador and Calaveras counties, where it covered an estimated 65,000 acres (26,305 hectares), officials said.
Thousands of residents in the area were required to evacuate on Friday and the blaze threatened more than 6,000 structures, officials said.
More than 3,800 firefighters were working to contain the fire, which erupted on Wednesday near the former gold mining town of Jackson.In central California between the city of Fresno and the Kings Canyon National Park, firefighters dug trenches to try to stop wildfires reaching a growth of ancient giant sequoia trees in the Sierra Nevada, some of which are 3,000 years old.
The Grant Grove of sequoias is named for the majestic General Grant tree in its midst, which is 268 feet tall. Lightning caused a fire more than a week ago that has now spread to an area of 40 square miles.
In the tiny village of Dunlap in the area, with just 130 residents, sheriff’s deputies went door to door handing out mandatory evacuation notices.
The California governor, Jerry Brown, declared a state of emergency for the counties involved as fire approached the town of San Andreas, about 60 miles south-east of Sacramento in the Sierra Nevada region.
Some homes were engulfed and thousands were threatened as flames spread quickly up steep terrain that made it extremely difficult for emergency services to hold them back.
A blaze that covered one square mile on Thursday quickly burned more than 100 square miles and was only 5% contained by Friday evening. By Saturday afternoon firefighters had gained some ground and containment had increased to about 10%, fire officials said.
Four firefighters were injured on Saturday, sustaining second-degree burns, officials said.If you see smoke or fire approaching your community, evacuate the area immediately,” incident commander Phil Veneris of the California department of forestry and fire protection, known as Cal Fire, warned residents of the gold rush town of San Andreas and the surrounding two counties.
The department warned the region to be prepared for “explosive fire conditions”.
The exact cause of the latest wildfire was yet to be established but conditions were extremely dangerous after a heatwave brought temperatures in the 90s, adding to the intense drought now in its fourth year in California.
San Andreas resident Fred Oshiro, 85, said that he, his wife and his sister-in-law had loaded up the car and gone in search of the local evacuation center. “We were going to stay in the house and watch the fire but the sheriff said you’d better take a hike,” he said.
“If the house burns down we’ll lose a lot. There’s the three of us and some essentials,” he added.More than 2,500 firefighters and 20 air tankers were flying over the flames dumping retardant “from sunup to sundown”, the department said.
The explosive growth of what was dubbed the Valley fire forced authorities to order mandatory evacuations of a number of communities, including all of Hidden Valley Lake, which has about 5,500 people, according to the Lake county sheriff’s office.
About 100 miles to the south-east, the so-called Butte fire destroyed 86 homes and 51 outbuildings in rural Amador and Calaveras counties, where it covered an estimated 65,000 acres (26,305 hectares), officials said.
Thousands of residents in the area were required to evacuate on Friday and the blaze threatened more than 6,000 structures, officials said.
More than 3,800 firefighters were working to contain the fire, which erupted on Wednesday near the former gold mining town of Jackson.In central California between the city of Fresno and the Kings Canyon National Park, firefighters dug trenches to try to stop wildfires reaching a growth of ancient giant sequoia trees in the Sierra Nevada, some of which are 3,000 years old.
The Grant Grove of sequoias is named for the majestic General Grant tree in its midst, which is 268 feet tall. Lightning caused a fire more than a week ago that has now spread to an area of 40 square miles.
In the tiny village of Dunlap in the area, with just 130 residents, sheriff’s deputies went door to door handing out mandatory evacuation notices.
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