The fire continued to move north Sunday and by that evening was moving east toward San Antonio Reservoir.
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Hearst Castle closes occasionally due to bad weather, but State Parks supervising ranger Robert Chambers said he couldn’t recall a time when it closed because of a wildfire.
The destructive Blue Cut Fire, which destroyed more than 100 homes and some 37,000 acres, is 100 percent contained, fire authorities said Tuesday.
Before residents return home, they may view damage assessment reports available online, via phone recordings and on postings at evacuation centers.
Crews are still patrolling for hot spots within the perimeter of the fire, which wiped out 105 homes and 216 outbuildings since it broke out in the San Bernardino Mountains, west of Interstate 15.
Fire spokesman Brad Pitassi said early Saturday that the blaze in mountain areas of San Bernardino County is 68 percent contained.
“You don’t want somebody to come back to a neighbourhood where a fire could suddenly flare up on the property next door from something still smoldering”, he said.
Hundreds of square miles in California have been overcome by wildfires this summer, in part fueled by a prolonged drought.
The Chimney Fire burning in San Luis Obispo County grew almost 4,000 acres overnight as firefighters braced for wind gusts Tuesday that could fan the flames into an unmanageable blaze.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention said Sunday the 6-square-mile fire in Lower Lake is now 95 percent contained.
Meanwhile, in Washington a wildfire, the cause of which is under investigation, burned about 15,000 acres in very high winds on Sunday. The fire has destroyed 52 structures and damaged seven.
Fire officials say that fire is burning in the opposite direction of the historic landmark and that the blaze is 35 percent contained.
“Our fire seasons are about about 78 days longer than they were three decades ago”, Bonnie says.
But even longtime observers were surprised by the staggering speed of the Southern California fire.
Hearst Castle staff had an evacuation plan but declined to provide specifics, citing security concerns. It’s painstaking and important work that helps evacuated residents know if they lost everything or have something waiting for them when they return home. Visitors with reservations through the weekend will be contacted about refunds, officials said.
Some 20 homes and other buildings were threatened, and other residents were told that the evacuation area may spread. CAL FIRE San Luis Obispo reported Sunday on its Twitter feed that 150 homes were threatened and that some new evacuations were being “assisted by boat”.
In an odd coincidence, the castle recently observed the 65th anniversary of Hearst’s death-just a day after the outbreak of the fire.
In the southern Sierra Nevada, another blaze feeding on dense timber in Sequoia National Forest forced the evacuation of several hamlets.
Fire crews continue to gain control on an arson fire that destroyed 189 homes in a Northern California town.
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A spate of fires throughout the U.S. state of California have left people displaced and thousands of square kilometres of vegetation destroyed.
