“Some of the homes are tucked back in rural areas, so it’s taken time to reach them”, state fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said. As long as people neglect to thin trees and reduce combustible underbrush – either mechanically or by intentionally setting small fires or letting lightning-ignited fires burn – conflagrations like those now burning in California, Oregon and Washington will continue to grow more widespread and severe. About 6,500 homes remained threatened by the fire, considered the fourth worst fire in California history based on total structures burned.
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The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said the fire was 69 percent contained but it was still threatening thousands of other structures.
The fires burning in Butte and the Valley have consumed more than 70,000 acres (28,000 hectares) and are only 70 percent and 50 percent contained, respectively.
And another two civilians were killed in the Butte fire, in the Sierra Nevada foothills, but residents were being allowed to gradually return to their homes Sunday. They have not determined how many additional structures, such as sheds, barns and other outbuildings, were destroyed. I said ‘Carol, that’s what’s your obituary’s going to say!
Three communities in the area of the Valley Fire have been destroyed by the raging flames: Middletown, Cobb and Hidden Valley.
One person was killed in the fast-moving Tassajara fire, which started Saturday afternoon near Jamesburg in Monterey County. But her daughter, who lives on the other side of the mountain, texted them a picture of their house last week: It’s still standing.
Rob Brown, another Lake County supervisor, said they are trying to match homeless residents with semi-permanent housing, either through empty vacation homes or rooms at the long-shuttered Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa in Kelseyville, California.
The Monterey County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is handling large animal evacuations, Cal Fire officials said.
The Lake County inferno has vandalized through 62 square miles in just 12 hours. From a previous fire in late July, he knew to expect a recorded call on his cellphone or look for someone coming through the neighbourhood with a bullhorn yelling for people to evacuate.
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A weekend of heat had descended on the wildfires after several days of favorable weather, raising fears that gains could be undone.
