Thousands of firefighters further north are also battling two fast-moving wildfires – the Valley Fire and the Butte Fire – that erupted at the weekend killing at least one person, forcing the evacuation of more than 23,000 people and destroying more than 700 homes.
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An elderly, disabled woman who was trapped in her home died in the Valley Fire about 20 miles outside the famed Napa Valley, according to the Associated Press.
“This has been a very destructive fire”, Berlant said, noting that the towns of Middletown and Hidden Valley Lake have been especially hard hit.
The blaze in Amador and Calaveras Counties has charred more than 112 square miles and was 40 percent contained on Tuesday.
More than 11,000 firefighters are battling 12 large fires across California.
Robert Taylor, 24, works out of the Kelsey-Cobb Station in Lake County. Officials also were seeking hundreds more firefighters and equipment from state officials who are managing numerous fires burning statewide.
Richard Cordova with Cal Fire says they’re hoping to make progress Tuesday with cooler weather and more humidity. Nancy O’Byrne, 57, was evacuated from her home in Middletown, but it’s still standing.
The 585 homes known to have been destroyed represents the greatest property loss from a single wildfire among the scores of conflagrations that have ravaged the drought-stricken U.S. West so far this year, according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise.
Rancher Lisa Comstock said she and her three dogs survived the raging fire in rural Middletown by jumping into a water trough as flames neared her home.
Despite the loss, Taylor said he’s determined to stay in Lake County and keep fighting fires.
While the fire grew about 5,000 acres during the night it is moving at a slower rate, thanks in part to the weather. It is still threatening another 6,400 structures.
The devastation comes after a separate wildfire to the southeast destroyed at least 81 homes.
Hittson said she called the sheriff’s office twice Saturday and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection on Sunday, only to be told by dispatchers, “We will get out there when we can”. The world traveler and sharp-minded woman with advanced multiple sclerosis said she would be fine.
There are dozens of Sequoia groves in the Sierra Nevada, and some trees are 3,000 years old.
The Valley Fire has destroyed nearly 600 homes and hundreds of other structures. Extreme fire behavior. Communities of Cobb and Middletown threatened with evacuations in progress.
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California Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency Sunday morning in Lake and Napa Counties as the fire spread rapidly.
