Mortal Klamathon Fire Forces Governor Brown to Declare State of Emergency

A forest fire that jumped on the Klamath River before rushing into the woods near the Oregon-California border Klamathon fire, which started near the small town of Hornbrook (Siskiyou County), forced evacuations, damaged or destroyed at least 12 structures, and Friday afternoon it had ravaged According to local authorities and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, there were only 5,000 hectares of land and there were only 5,000.

Northern California, which adds to a series of fires from San Diego to Yreka, created an unusually early fire season that put the authorities at risk.

"Some of the fire behaviors we see now we should normally see later, like in September," said Captain Cal Fire, Amy Head, "Cooler temperatures would obviously be helpful, but we do not have to." let's not see him right away. "

The Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office confirmed that the firefighters were locating the body of a resident among the burnt ruins of a Hornbrook neighborhood at around 5:30 am Friday. More details were not available because the security forces had trouble identifying the body, said Sheriff's Lieutenant Jeremiah LaRue, a spokesman for the office

"We We did not even address because of the devastation in the area, "he said." There are things burned everywhere. "

But from noon Friday, the forces of order no longer expected to die.

#Klamathon burning on both sides of the I-5 interchange south of Hilt. No ETA activated when I-5 reopens. I-5 closed SB at #Ashland . NB at #Yreka . pic.twitter.com/xSb1gG6vNc

– Oregon DOT (@OregonDOT) July 6, 2018

"We are pretty optimistic that everyone is out," said LaRue. On Thursday afternoon, the Klamathon Fire jumped Interstate 5 just south of the Oregon border, closing the tracks heading south for almost a day.

Incorporate 783431Z-1530900099775 OregonDOT

Government. Jerry Brown declared the state of emergency on Thursday in Siskiyou County, noting that the residents were in "extreme danger".

The sheriff's department sent an evacuation alert to residents of Hornbrook and Hilt residents at 1:19 pm. On Thursday, said LaRue, who estimated that about 400 people had fled their homes.

"The flames are hot and they are jumping back and forth on the highway," he said. "It has moved very rapidly to the northwest and extends to the east and west of the highway."

The authorities have not yet officially identified what triggered the fire, but they have a good idea of ​​the origin. The Highway Patrol breakdown records show that at approximately 12:30 pm on Thursday, a resident of a property located southeast of the Klamath River, near the Klamathon and Ager roads, called the dispatchers to say that he had "set off" a small fire on a friend's property and that this one was "out of control"

indicates that the fire lit a tree, jumped the river at the beginning of the day. afternoon and quickly grew as he took off in the grassy hills studded with trees.

Brianna Derra, 20, a resident of Montague, a neighboring city of Yreka at dusk Thursday when she fell on "a red glow over the hill".

"You are there, knowing that people's homes are burning, people's livestock," she said. "I went to high school with a lot of people from this area.Everyone knows everyone."

This is the second big fire of recent years that has torn the rural spread California cities near the border of Oregon. In 2014, the Boles fire devastated the town of Weed, about 40 minutes south of Hornbrook on Interstate 5. It destroyed more than 150 homes. Said Derra, "At the same time, there are many people who come together to help these victims and evacuate as there were after the Boles fire."

An evacuation order was still Effective Friday for Klamathon Road, Interstate According to Cal Fire, [traduction]

Nancy Hood, 36, resides in Yreka, a town of 7,600 inhabitants, miles south of Hornbrook – stated that She was worried about her friends and neighbors.

"My friend is on the line right now just trying to save his home," Hood said. "They're trying to get out a lot of animals farmers. Even stray animals, they say, pick them up and bring them.

#Klamathon Fire There are 500 acres and over and zero percent content. Multiple structures are threatened. An evacuation order is currently in effect for Klamathon Road from Interstate 5 in Ager and all of Hornbrook. Evacuation orders now include areas of the Hilt / Colestein Valley. pic.twitter.com/v2AEoygGKv

– Nancy Hood (@sassybellsqueak) July 6, 2018

Meanwhile, massive fire in Yolo and Napa counties continued to challenge firefighters from all over the state as they struggled to contain the northernmost part of the fire, which entered Friday in its seventh day and burned nine structures.

The county grew more than 300 acres on Friday morning, swallowing 88,375 acres in total. According to the authorities, the steep and inaccessible terrain has prevented firefighters from establishing a containment line at the north end of the fire.

The fire was controlled to 37% at the beginning of the afternoon. Guinda, along Highway 16 north of Berryessa Lake in Yolo County.

#CountyFire [update] East of Berryessa Lake (Yolo and Napa Counties) is now 88,375 acres and 37%. Current Evacuation https://t.co/z2FpwZ89SK pic.twitter.com/cNIsZmOHsk

– FIRE CAL (@CAL_FIRE) July 6, 2018

Mandatory evacuations were in place for the communities from Yolo and Lake

In addition to the nine structures destroyed, Cal Fire also reports that 110 structures remained under threat on Friday. Although more favorable weather conditions have helped firefighters somewhat, higher temperatures, lower humidity and erratic winds expected over the weekend could continue to pose problems, authorities said.

#PawneeFire [update] ] of Pawnee Road and New Long Valley Road, northeast of Clearlake Oaks (Lake County), remains confined to 15,000 acres and confined to 92%. https://t.co/LoCjg6kBA8 pic.twitter.com/6ysOjFi2iT

– CAL FIRE (@CAL_FIRE) July 6, 2018

Meanwhile, in Lake County, the fire Pawnee's was 92 percent contained and had burned 15,000 acres. At least 22 buildings were destroyed and six damaged on Friday, but firefighters said no other structure was threatened.

A firefighter was injured in the fire, authorities said.

In Alpine (San Diego County) The fire devastated Friday the area near Cleveland National Forest to burn more than 350 acres. Other fires in the state to reach the three-digit Friday in the burnt land included fire from the box just north of San Bernadino and the Irish fire in Amador County near Sacramento, who had at least 100 acres on fire.

could be a very long season, "said Captain Head of Cal Fire. "But then, we do not really see any more seasons, is not it?"

Lauren Hernandez, editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, contributed to this report.

Erin Stone and Kevin Fagan are editors of the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected], [email protected]. Twitter: @ erstone7 @KevinChron