Buchanan is an information officer for the San Diego-based North County Fire Protection District, part of a team of people from around the country who have come to the Valley coordinate firefighting efforts.
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The lodge had been evacuated Monday and no one was injured. It has since grown to about 48,000 acres, with little containment so far.
The blaze led to the evacuation of more than 2,500 campers, hikers, employees and residents earlier in the week.
By Wednesday night, the fire remained along ridge tops near Kings Canyon, according to Hume Lake Christian Camp.
“It’s burning there, but it’s moving around the camps”, he said.
The Dinuba Fire Department recently sent personnel to help contain the Willow Fire near Bass Lake and fires near Napa.
The lightning-caused Canyon-Creek Complex of fires has burned about 109 square miles since August . 12.
The military call-ups and MAFFS deployments are in support of the Boise, Idaho-based National Interagency Fire Center’s (NIFC) efforts to fight fires throughout Northern Calfornia, said Davis. “If he chooses to burn it down, we will praise God”.
And the camps’ staff expressed worries, stating that “Of greater concern now are Bearskin Meadow and the Diabetes Youth Families [Educational] camp, as well as the many campgrounds in the area”. The Hume staff and community are asking for continued prayer in a few specific areas this weekend.
Despite relentlessly high temperatures, fire crews increased the blaze’s containment to 7 percent, the U.S. Forest Service said. All campers and staff have been evacuated.
On the northwest edge of the flames, crews were working to protect Pacific Gas and Electric Co. equipment in the Balch camp area. The current closure is defined in Forest Order 15-19, which closes these areas for public safety: – Most of the Hume Lake Ranger District from Delilah Rd. on the west to Jennie Lakes and Monarch Wildernesses to the east; and from Hwy 180 in the south to the Forest boundary to the north. Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks issued a closure of the Cedar Grove area and the Grant Grove area. Evacuations have been ordered in the rural area as the fire moves toward Tracy.
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Pieces of foundation, charred metal pipes, broken dishes and a burned-out pickup truck were all that remained of the Kings Canyon lodge, which bills itself as a folksy getaway for tourists.
