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Wednesday
August 8, 2018
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A
Biggest blaze in California history challenges firefighters

heat wave Tuesday to slow INFERNO
By PAUL ELIAS
Associated Press
Firefighters
struggled
against rugged terrain,
high winds and an August

the spread of the biggest
wildfire ever recorded in
California, an inferno that
exploded to be nearly the
size of Los Angeles in just 11
days.
The 450-square-mile
(1,165-square-kilometer)
blaze, centered near the
community of Upper Lake,
about 100 miles (160 kilo-
meters) north of San Fran-
cisco, spread fast because
of what officials said was
a perfect combination
of weather, topography
and abundant vegetation
turned into highly flam-
mable fuel by years of
drought. Evacuees from Lucerne, from left, Ken Bennett with Ember Reynolds, 8, and Lisa Reynolds watch the sunset as smoke from the
Firefighting efforts were Ranch Fire rises into the sky at Austin Park Beach in California’s Clearlake with Mount Konocti in the background.
also initially hampered by Associated Press
stretched resources, said known as Cal Fire. ers were hundreds of miles city of Redding, destroying major blazes.
the Department of Forestry When the fire started July north battling a massive more than 1,000 homes, in
and Fire Protection, also 27, thousands of firefight- blaze that spread into the addition to a dozen other Continued on Page 3