New fires sweep Southern California

GOLETA, Calif. – Firefighters battling forest fires who set fire to hundreds of homes across the western US were hoping for help from the weather on Saturday even as new fires swept away . A fire on the border between California and Oregon that has destroyed 40 buildings and made at least one victim since Thursday remained virtually uncontrollable, but a warning from the National Weather Service regarding the extreme danger of fire and heat has expired Friday.

Further south, a new wind-powered fire on Friday night burned at least 20 homes and threatened hundreds of others in the hills above Goleta in Santa Barbara County, reported authorities. Evacuations were ordered as the fire rushed into the residential areas and late Friday night it was about one kilometer from the city center, Captain Dave Zaniboni told KNX-AM radio. The authorities said that the fire started with a fire in the house and that gusts of wind pushed the flames.

CBS News correspondent Carter Evans reports that you could see embers flying through the air. The winds blew them through the Goleta community, and some of them landed on the roofs of the houses. There is really nothing that firefighters can do.

High temperatures combined with a dry brush created ideal conditions for a fire. The warm weather in the area was to continue on Saturday, with some relief Sunday.

To the east of Los Angeles, in the San Bernardino National Forest, authorities ordered the evacuation of the Forest Falls community, which has about 700 homes, while a fire Rapid forest was growing at 1,000 acres. including one that burned at least five homes and maybe a lot more in Alpine, in the foothills not far from San Diego. Governor Jerry Brown said the state of emergency for the county.

In a Red Cross shelter, Ben Stanfill told the San Diego Tribune Union that he and other family members had helped evacuate his mother's home, even if she was not in a mandatory evacuation area.

"We just grab everything you can not replace or re-buy," said Stanfill. "The pictures of my grandmother, the cat, the Mickey Mouse cub, my sister she's had since she was small."

The fire was only 5% Friday night, but the crews had virtually stopped their growth and were focusing on destroying hot spots that continue to threaten homes and mobile homes, said the fire officials.

Another fire on Camp Pendleton's marine base resulted in the evacuation of 750 homes.

The new flames came as Southern California saw many regions exceed 100 degrees Friday and more than a dozen regions recorded record temperatures for the day. It was 115 degrees at Woodland Hills and 112 at Burbank. In Los Angeles, it was 103.

In the north, the Siskyou County Fire, on the Oregon border, had virtually drained the tiny communities of Hilt and Hornbrook. Firefighters have called for the immediate evacuation of some areas of Oregon near the community of Colestin.

"We know we have lost homes and a lot of structures, including cattle and horses," said Ray Haupt, chairman of the Siskiyou County Supervisory Board.

The body of a resident was found Friday morning in the burnt ruins of a Hornbrook home, but authorities struggled to identify the body.

"We do not even have an address because of the devastation in the area," said Siskyou County Sheriff's Lieutenant Jeremiah LaRue at the San Francisco Chronicle.

We did not expect dead anymore.

"We're pretty optimistic that everyone is out," LaRue said. "We talked to people who were evacuated, and no one is missing right now, so that's fine."

Elsewhere in California, a massive fire northwest of Sacramento, which began on June 30, destroyed 10 homes and other buildings, but contained 42 per cent, officials said.

California was one of the western states where recent forest fires destroyed homes and forced thousands to evacuate.

A forest fire in Utah that burned 90 structures and forced the evacuation of more than 1,100 people in a mountain area near a popular fishing tank was increasing Friday, but the firefighters hoped to increase confinement soon. The fire had burned about 75 square miles and was surrounded by 4 percent.

In Colorado, rain helped slow the growth of forest fires that burned dozens of homes. But the threat of a flood has raised the possibility of a flood in the area of ​​a stubborn fire in the southwest corner of the state. Authorities issued a flash alert on the 85 square mile area burned by a fire that began on June 1. They said it was just smoldering, and the rain over the next few days should prevent it from spreading.

The rain helped calm a fire in the heart of a ski country that destroyed three homes, including the home of a volunteer firefighter fighting the flames near the seaside resort. Aspen. Governor John Hickenlooper visited the region on Friday.

He also offered relief in the mountains of southern Colorado where a fire destroyed more than 130 homes and forced the evacuation of at least 2,000 properties. The Spring Creek fire has become the third largest in the state's history at 165 square miles.