Heat Wave expected to feed Calif. Wildfires this weekend
Pastor Dale Morgan
Heat Wave expected to feed Calif. Wildfires this weekend*
FAST-MOVING CALIFORNIA FIRES WORRY RESIDENTS
From staff and wire reports
Californians will continue fighting off hundreds of wildfires over the
holiday weekend, with 31 miles along Highway 1 already evacuated and
hot, dry weather setting the stage for even more fires.
Mandatory evacuations were issued for most of the 850 residents in the
scenic coastal community of Big Sur on Wednesday when an out-of-control
wildfire jumped a fire line, threatening more homes. "The fire is just a
big raging animal right now," said Darby Marshall, spokesman for the
Monterey County Office of Emergency Services.
The blaze had destroyed 16 homes and charred about 82 square miles of
forest since it was started by lightning on June 21 in the Los Padres
National Forest. It was about 3% contained Wednesday.
"The only saving grace is that this area is not heavily populated like
we saw in Southern California last year," David Paulison, head of the
Federal Emergency Management Agency, said in a phone interview from the
scene. "If people evacuate like they're told to, we shouldn't lose any
lives. My only concern is that people don't take it seriously enough."
Drought, heat and lightning storms have contributed to more than 1,100
fires that have blackened 680 square miles of land statewide in the past
two weeks. The blazes have destroyed 60 homes and other buildings while
threatening thousands more, according to the California Department of
Forestry and Fire Protection.
The outlook doesn't look any better for the weekend: Southern California
will remain hot and dry, and the northern part of the state may face
wind and lightning.
James Wilson, senior meteorologist at The Weather Channel, said winds
from a system moving over Oregon, Washington and Northern California may
clear smoke for tanker crews dropping water and retardant on the flames.
But that same wind could fan the flames on the ground and start more
fires with dry lightning strikes.
Meanwhile, excessive heat warnings will remain in place in the southern
and interior portions of the state.
"I don't see any help," from the weather, Wilson said. "We're just going
to have to rely on the fire crews."