Ward said the fire near the town of Richfield was about 27 percent contained and not threatening any homes.
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“It’s better to lose stuff than people we care about the most”, he said.
More mandatory evacuation orders were lifted Sunday for residents affected by a California wildfire that drove thousands from their homes. Six other wildfires were burning in the state, including one in San Luis Obispo County that forced the closure of the historic Hearst Castle on Saturday.
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Brian Steiger says the fire is 35 percent contained after destroying 36 homes and 16 other buildings.
A plane drops a fire retardant over a wildfire near Cajon Pass in California on Tuesday.
The Blue Cut fire is now mostly contained, but fire officials say it is still too unsafe for locals to return home.
Colligan said Monday that although the castle did not appear to be under immediate threat by the fire, crews were well aware that winds can change quickly.
“My compliments to all who are involved in this, they are doing a great job, and they’ll get this taken care of”, Mecham said, “I have to tell you the coordinated effort that we’ve experienced here is wonderful”.
Investigators are searching for the cause of the fire that broke out last Tuesday about 60 miles east of Los Angeles.
“Many of you have expressed concern over the welfare of Hearst Castle’s famous zebra”.
Before residents return home, they may view damage assessment reports available online, via phone recordings and on postings at evacuation centers.
Eighty miles up the coast, California’s biggest fire grew to almost 135 square miles in rugged wilderness coast along Highway 1 north of Big Sur. It remains the largest fire so far this season and is 60 percent contained.
“What we need to do is to treat fires more like the natural disasters that they are, and allow the agency – the forest service – to draw on an emergency fund so we don’t have to rob Peter to pay Paul”, he says. Fire spokeswoman Jaime Garrett said the fire was growing in the opposite direction of the Hearst Castle, a popular tourist attraction that houses a large art collection that belonged to media magnate William Randolph Hearst. And a suspected arson fire that destroyed 189 homes last week in and around Lower Lake, in Lake County, was 95 percent contained.
In rural Santa Barbara County, a 33-square-mile wildfire that forced the evacuation of two campgrounds was 20 per cent contained.
Firefighters have been working all weekend to keep the raging Chimney Fire under control as it makes a beeline for Hearst Castle.
California is one of nine Western states contending with a rash of about 30 some blazes that have scorched more than 162,000 hectares combined across the drought-parched region.
The fire has been burning for a month and has consumed some 87,000 acres north of Big Sur.
“This community has reached out, and will continue to do so”, Capps said, “when I say community I mean every level, including the federal level, and that’s why I am here today, to signal that support”.
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At Lower Lake, 80 miles north of San Francisco, recovery efforts remained underway in the aftermath of hard-hit Lake County’s latest wildfire, which destroyed 189 homes since erupting August 13.
