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CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. (AP) – Hundreds of homes and businesses in northern California were threatened on Monday after wildfires erupted over the weekend, forcing thousands of residents to flee their homes in rural areas north of San Francisco. Francisco.
PHOTO: Pawnee Forest Fire burns northeast of Clearlake Oaks, California, early June 24, 2018, date of photo: 24/06/2018
The largest fires have continued to grow, but no cases of injury or death have been reported, said the California Department of Forests and Fire Protection.
About 3,000 residents evacuated homes in Lake County, about 120 miles (193 kilometers) north of San Francisco. A fire that was not contained there increased by 21 square kilometers and destroyed at least 22 houses and buildings, reported the agency.
Firefighter Battalion Chief Jonathan Cox said more than 230 firefighters using helicopters, bulldozers and other equipment were fighting Lake County fire in a hilly area that was making it difficult for them to get there. 39, equipment near the fire.
"It's sort of the worst combination possible," Cox said.
The rural area was hit hard in 2015 by a 120 square kilometer (310 square kilometer) fire that killed four people and destroyed 2,000 buildings.
Terri Gonsalves, 55, evacuated her home in Lake County around midnight Sunday, throwing four goats into her truck.
She had watched another fire that seemed to be moving away, but then she looked out the back window and saw a big burning hill.
"Holy cow, it's here," she said. "I'm going."
She stays with her daughter in Middletown, a small town also devastated by the 2015 forest fire. She has heard that her home is safe.
"I think we are all so traumatized and overwhelmed by all these fires year after year, this whole community is at a breaking point," she said, adding, "When that happens, we gather together. other."
She posted on Facebook that she needed to borrow a portable pen big enough for four goats that continue to escape from her daughter's yard. She expects a friendly neighbor to arrive from one minute to the next.
"I'm so finished," she said to live in the middle of forest fires every two years. "I am ready to move to a tropical island."
The authorities also ordered residents to evacuate in Tehama County, about 200 miles (322 kilometers) north of San Francisco, where two wildfires were burning. One has grown to 4 square miles (6 square kilometers) while the smallest of about half a square mile has destroyed several homes and businesses in the city of Red Bluff.
A Red Bluff policeman helping residents evacuate has lost his home due to forest fires, authorities said.
Lt. Matt Hansen of Red Bluff Police said that Corporal Ruben Murgia 's pregnant wife and three young children were ordered to evacuate their home while he was on duty Saturday when the fire started. The family escaped safely, but lost almost all his possessions, said Hansen.
Hansen said that about $ 10,000 in cash as well as furniture and clothes were donated to the family while they were looking for a rental home.
This fire was under control and almost extinguished, reported Cal Fire.
Cal Fire said the biggest fire was 20%. A nearby casino served as an animal evacuation center.
Residents also fled a forest fire in Shasta County about 300 miles (482 kilometers) north of San Francisco.
No cause has been determined for any of the fires.
Authorities said hot weather, high winds and dry weather fuel fires less than a year after California's most expensive fires killed 44 people and destroyed the country's wine country in October, causing damage. estimated at $ 10 billion.
12 of the two dozen fires in 2017 were attributed to cut-off power lines. The causes of the other fires are being investigated.
While fires were the first big ones of the season to hit California, others raged in the West for weeks. Last week, a forest fire in Colorado forced residents of more than 1,000 homes to evacuate and led to warnings so others prepared to leave.
The fire at 13 miles (43 kilometers) north of Durango was in the Four Corners area where Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah meet – the epicenter of the city. a great exceptional drought.
Moderate to extreme drought conditions affect larger areas of these four states as well as parts of Nevada, California, Oregon, Oklahoma and Texas, according to the drought monitor of the United States.
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