Hundreds of people have evacuated to escape a wildfire in coastal Southern California and a larger blaze in rural New Mexico as hot weather feeds the flames, raising health concerns in other regions, officials said on Thursday.
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According to CBS News, the fire began on Wednesday near Santa Barbara and has prompted ExxonMobil to evacuate non-essential staff from the Las Flores Canyon refinery. The authorities have issued mandatory evacuation orders for El Capitan Canyon, El Capitan Ranch, El Capitan State Beach, Refugio State Beach, Refugio Canyon, Venadito Canyon and Las Flores Canyon and around 140 homes and ranches were potentially at risk.
The 101 Freeway was re-closed near Refugio Road as the California Highway Patrol reported flames spreading to the freeway. A fleet of aircraft dropped water and retardant to combat a wind-driven wildfire burning out of control Thursday. A blaze in central New Mexico exploded to almost 19 square miles and forced residents to flee at least 50 homes after sending up a towering plume of smoke that blanketed the state’s largest city in a thick haze.
More than 5,500 acres burned in east-central Arizona, a small community in Cedar Creek area was evacuated and thousands more were told to prepare to leave after the wildfires ravaged more than 12 square miles. The fire broke out Wednesday 12 miles south of Show Low, and gusty winds pushed it into brush and ponderosa pine. “Conditions and terrain are risky, making it hard for crews to reach”.
A fire crew takes shelter behind an engine as the Sherpa Fire advances at El Capitan State Beach in Santa Barbara, California on June 16, 2016.
State Parks officials say people who were evacuated from those campgrounds could return Thursday to retrieve their belongings, but the campgrounds and park will remain closed through next Friday. He also said the fire was now burning away from the nearby Reagan Ranch.
Washoe County and the Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District said Thursday morning that the fire burned about 300 acres since Wednesday afternoon.
A wildfire that started Wednesday afternoon near Goleta mushroomed overnight and was estimated to have burned 1,200 acres by Thursday morning. Fires also had threatened homes in Nevada and Utah.
There have been no injuries or structural damages.
– SBCFireInfo (@EliasonMike) June 17, 2016#SherpaFire a skycrane helicopter makes a drop on the U.S. 101 center divider at El Capitan State Park.
A fire burning in central New Mexico that has forced evacuations and destroyed structures has charred more than 19 square miles.
The sundowners have been the cause of numerous devastating fires along Santa Barbara’s mountainous east-west coastline, bringing strong Santa Ana-like winds around sunset.
Hundreds of people were forced from campgrounds after the fire first erupted in a scenic area of the California coast that was in the spotlight past year when a major oil spill hit.
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Santa Barbara County fire Capt. Dave Zaniboni says the danger to the facility is minimal Thursday.
