Firefighters expected dry, hot winds and the possibility of erratic flames in a series of wildfires that have charred nearly 75 square miles of rangeland in northwest Nevada. The massive Soberanes fire is approaching the two-week mark in Big Sur and the Carmel Valley, and it has now scorched 45,800, and meanwhile a new fire broke out Tuesday near Winters and Lake Berryessa, in Yolo County.
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The Yakima-Herald reported (http://goo.gl/yxcqaB ) the fire that has scorched about 273 square miles was up to 20 percent contained, from 10 percent Tuesday morning.
It prompted the evacuation of an RV and tent campground off a highway. Residents of about 500 homes southwest of Hamilton were evacuated or warned to be ready to leave.
About 630 homes remain evacuated.
Officials are reporting progress containing two large wildfires pushed by dry winds through remote rangeland and rugged mountain canyons in northwestern Nevada.
The more than 5,450 firefighting personnel battling the blaze have been able to draw containment lines, a measure of how much of its perimeter has been cleared by fire crews of unburned vegetation, that is just 18% of the wildfire so far.
A western Montana wildfire has grown to 11 square miles in the Bitterroot National Forest. Both were started by lightning. But crews fear gusty winds blowing off the Pacific Ocean could fan flames that forced evacuations earlier on tribal lands near Pyramid Lake north of Reno.
About 400 crew members remained on that fire near where the annual Burning Man counterculture festival is held.
Officials want the public’s help to find whoever started the flames that blew up to more than 71 square miles and destroyed 57 homes.
Ravalli County Sheriff Chris Hoffman says his undersheriff toured the burned area and said it looked like a moonscape.
Fire spokeswoman Jennifer Myslivy says no evacuations are in place.
The fire claimed the life of 35-year-old Fresno County resident Robert Oliver Reagan III, a private contractor who was operating a bulldozer that rolled over last week, according to Cal Fire.
No arrests have been made since investigators determined that an unattended campfire started the blaze July 22. The area of the campfire was away from trails and off-limits to hiking.
A grass fire in a popular recreational area in Northern California has more than doubled in size in less than a day.
Known as the Goose Fire, the blaze has already damaged several homes and consumed some three square miles. No one has been injured.
The wildfire was burning about 12 miles north of Sunnyside. Officials said it could have resulted from an escaped campfire.
The warning came as 5,500 firefighters battled a wildfire near the Big Sur coast, a well-known tourist destination.
The fire had burned almost 7 square miles in Bitterroot National Forest.
Crews plan to build fire lines and use previous wildfire burn scars to try to prevent the fire from moving farther north.
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The fire closed a section of State Highway 21 between Idaho City and Lowman and destroyed two outbuildings.
