SAN FRANCISCO Flames raged unchecked for a second day through tinder-dry brush and scrub oak in Northern California’s ranch country on Thursday after destroying three homes and forcing hundreds of residents to flee, as firefighters sought to benefit from subsiding winds, officials said. While firefighters Wednesday night worked to get people out of the fire zone and protect structures, today’s emphasis will be on getting containment lines around the spreading blaze.
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The so-called Rocky Fire erupted on Wednesday afternoon in the rugged foothills and canyons on the inland flanks of California’s northern coastal range, 110 miles (180 km) north of San Francisco.
Evacuations have been ordered for the north side of Morgan Valley Road for five miles east of Bonham Road, Cal Fire said.
A fast-moving fire near Clear Lake in Lake County has now grown to over 8,300 acres.
Firefighters on the ground and in the air battle spot fires at the Rocky Fire on Thursday. A contracted helicopter prepares to make a water drop on the Wragg Fire, Tuesday, July 28, 2015, near Winters, Calif. More than 200 people were ordered from their homes Tuesday when the wildfire jumped a… The blaze destroy several outbuildings and 500 people were evacuated from the area.
A smaller fire but one that is dangerously close to old-growth forest and Yosemite National Park, the Big Creek Fire, is now clocking in at 150 acres near Groveland in Tuolumne County.
North of Sacramento, the 2,300-acre (930-hectare) Lowell Fire threatened 1,550 structures, mostly residential, Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said. The fire, which ignited Saturday, burned through more than 3 1/2 square miles and is about half contained.
Local media reports say the wildfire more than doubled in size overnight. Firefighters reported the 7,500-acre fire was 80 percent contained Thursday. The blaze rapidly spread to scorch 3,000 acres by early Thursday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire). They say the boy faces criminal charges but remains out of custody because he and his family are cooperating.
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So far, three buildings have burned.
