Authorities charged a man from Clearlake, CA, with 17 counts of arson, including involvement in the latest blaze that started Saturday, called the Clayton Fire.
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A California man was arrested Monday on arson charges for allegedly sparking the wildfire that destroyed more than 175 homes, business and other structures in a Northern California town, authorities said.
In central California, similar conditions led the wildfire near Lake Nacimiento, about 180 miles northwest of Los Angeles, to explode from 2 to almost 7 square miles Sunday, Cal Fire spokesman Bennet Milloy said.
The declaration issued Monday frees up state resources and temporarily sets aside regulations for fighting the fire and the recovery.
The so-called “Mineral” fire near the town of Coalinga, California destroyed two structures and blackened more than 7,000 acres.
In the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles, the “Pilot” fire, which erupted on Sunday, was 70 percent contained after charring almost 8,000 acres of dry chaparral, grass and timber. It grew to almost 7 square miles and forced authorities to evacuate residents by boat when it shifted toward Lake Nacimiento on Sunday. She’s almost positive the home has burned to the ground along with the neighboring winery. Here and there, amid the burned blocks, whole homes still stand.
The U.S. Forest Service says the 12.6-square-mile blaze was 100 percent contained Tuesday.
“We’re safe, and we have each other”.
Holley says she doesn’t recognize what’s left of Second Street, now an apocalyptic, charred moonscape.
Between them, the four blazes have destroyed more than 1,400 of the 36,000 housing units in all Lake County.
A fast-moving wildfire threatened scores of homes at a Northern California lake community that was evacuated because of a devastating nearby wildfire past year.
Hundreds of animals, including dogs and horses, also were evacuated. “Unless my home is on fire, I’m not going anywhere”. Dry heat and soaring temperatures have seen a rash of wildfires spread across California this summer. The Los Angeles Times reports that locals are already meeting their first double fire-survivors, including “a family burned out of Middletown [in 2015] by the Valley fire just lost their new home in Lower Lake right up the road”.
The flames reached historic Main Street, where firefighters couldn’t save an office of Habitat for Humanity, an organization that had been raising money to help rebuild homes in nearby communities torched a year ago. 1,500 more structures are listed threatened.
No one has been injured.
Firefighters made progress in battling the sprawling and devastating fire in Lake County, upping containment overnight to 20 percent and keeping it from spreading to more homes in the hard-hit area. It holds sentimental value to them too because the 3-bedroom place was big enough to allow them to previous year adopt their three daughters. It has burned almost 7 square miles while destroying 175 structures.
(AP Photo/Josh Edelson). A destroyed bicycle lays amid the rubble of a burned property in Lower Lake, Calif., Monday, Aug. 15, 2016.
Still under investigation is the Jerusalem Fire, which burned more than 25,000 acres last summer in Lake and Napa counties.
Along the coast, Highway 1 reopened after a daylong closure for removal of fire-weakened trees north of Big Sur.
A fast-moving Northern California wildfire has destroyed more than 100 homes and forced thousands to flee an area where drought conditions and high temperatures are making firefighting hard.
The growth was explosive, San Bernardino County fire spokesman Eric Sherwin said.
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No injuries have been reported. In the meantime, PG&E is working to get the power turned back on for at least 700 Lower Lake residents.
