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U.S. NEWS Wednesday 27 June 2018

California wildfire grows, 1,500 under evacuation orders

SPRING VALLEY, Calif. gan over the weekend, the
(AP) — A wildfire in North- same conditions that led
ern California that forced to the state's deadliest and
about 1,500 people to flee most destructive fire year in
their homes grew overnight 2017. Gov. Jerry Brown on
and was heading toward Monday declared a state
a sparsely populated area of emergency in rural Lake
in a region hit hard by wild- County. The declaration
fires in recent years, author- will enable officials to re-
ities said Tuesday. ceive more state resources
The fire in Lake County to fight the fire and for re-
north of San Francisco is covery.
now nearly 18 square miles Jim Steele, an elected su-
(46 square kilometers), said pervisor, said the county is
Emily Smith, a spokeswom- impoverished and its fire-
an with California's Depart- fighting equipment anti-
ment of Forestry and Fire quated. He also said the
Protection. county has just a few roads
The blaze burning through into and out of the region,
dry brush, grass and timber which can hinder response
has destroyed 12 homes time. Steele said the area
and 10 other buildings since has also been susceptible
it started on Saturday. It is to fire for many decades
threatening another 600 because of dense brush Vehicles and homes on Wolf Creek Road were destroyed in the Pawnee Fire in Lake County as
buildings. and trees, but the severity residents were forced to evacuate and the fire continued to burn out of control on Monday, June
Authorities over the week- of the latest blazes is unex- 25, 2018 in Spring Valley, Calif. Associated Press
end said residents had pected. "What's happened
to evacuate all homes in with the more warming cli-
the town of Spring Valley, mate is we get low humidi-
where about 3,000 people ty and higher winds," Steele
live. Officials clarified Tues- said. The blaze is the latest
day that only half of the in the county of just 65,000
residents faced mandatory people in the last few years.
evacuation orders. In 2015, a series of fires de-
Spring Valley resident stroyed 2,000 buildings and
Deborah Edwards, 67, was killed four people. The fol-
seven hours out of town lowing year, an arsonist
when her neighbor called started a fire that wiped
to alert her about the man- out 300 buildings.
datory evacuation — the Last year, the county was
third evacuation order Ed- among those ravaged by
wards has had to follow in a string of fires that ripped
the past few years. She and through Northern California
her husband drove back wine country.
to collect their Labradors "I think we're all just so trau-
from an evacuation center matized and overwhelmed
where the neighbor had with all these fires year after
taken them. year, this whole commu-
"We've done this enough nity is at a breaking point,"
times so we can go ahead said Terri Gonsalves, 55,
and go," she said. "I had all who evacuated her home
my important papers in a around midnight Sunday.
place beforehand so the More than 230 firefight-
neighbor knew what to ers were battling the Lake
take." County fire in a rugged
California officials said un- area that made it difficult
usually hot weather, high to get equipment close the
winds and highly flam- blaze, Smith said.
mable vegetation turned Residents also fled wildfires
brittle by drought helped in Shasta and Tuolumne
fuel several blazes that be- counties. q