California firefighters battle hundreds of blazes as Lightning sparks 400 Wildfires
Pastor Dale Morgan
California firefighters battle hundreds of blazes as Lightning sparks
400 Wildfires
*Heat-scorched California now facing 400 fires *
*
By DON THOMPSON, Associated Press Writer
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Hundreds of wildfires sparked by lightning flared
Sunday across the heart of wine country and remote forests in Northern
California, the latest batch of destructive blazes in the bone-dry state.
One had spread across nearly 6 square miles by early Sunday after
starting the previous afternoon in Napa County and quickly moving into a
mostly rural area of Solano County.
The fire threatened more than 100 buildings as it fed on grassy woodland
about 40 miles southwest of Sacramento, said Roger Archey, a spokesman
for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire.
It was 10 percent contained Sunday morning and had destroyed one home,
Archey said. Evacuations were ordered for some residents, said agency
spokeswoman Nancy Carniglia.
Wildfires have destroyed more than 175 homes in Northern California so
far this year. Blazes started popping up in the region just as
California's unofficial fire season began in mid-May, following the
state's driest two-month period on record.
A blaze about 25 miles south of San Jose forced several residents from
their homes Sunday, though officials did not have exact figures. That
fire covered nearly 2 square miles and was only 10 percent contained. It
also was blamed on lightning.
Thunderstorms were responsible for as many as 75 fires in Shasta-Trinity
National Forest, about 160 miles north of Sacramento. They ranged in
size from less than an acre to more than a square mile. None immediately
threatened homes, said Forest Service spokesman Michael Odle.
Mendocino County had as many as 90 fires, ranging in size up to 125
acres, Cal Fire officials said.
South of San Francisco, a fire that destroyed homes and closed a stretch
of highway was 90 percent contained after charring just less than a
square mile. Evacuation orders were lifted Saturday, a day after roughly
2,000 people fled their homes.
It was the third major blaze to hit Santa Cruz County in the past month.
A 520-acre blaze destroyed 11 buildings in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and
a fire near Corralitos covered more than 4,200 acres and destroyed about
100 buildings.
Along the coast in the Los Padres National Forest, a wildfire burning
since Saturday forced 75 homes and businesses to be evacuated. And just
miles away, firefighters worked to stanch a huge fire that has destroyed
two homes since it began two weeks ago. It was nearly 60 percent
contained after charring 83 square miles.
Near the Nevada border, authorities said Sunday that they are studying a
"person of interest" in last summer's catastrophic Lake Tahoe wildfire
but lack enough evidence to make an arrest.
Tuesday will mark the one-year anniversary of the blaze, which destroyed
254 homes, caused $140 million in property damage and scorched nearly 5
square miles. Investigators think the fire started with stray embers
from an illegal campfire at a popular party spot.
In New Mexico, hundreds of firefighters battled blazes that had charred
more than 100 square miles, including more than 4,000 acres on a ranch
owned by media mogul Ted Turner.
The largest fire, 20 miles southwest of Hope, N.M., was 35 percent
contained after charring about 64 square miles.
The fires were feeding on grass, brush, cacti and some pinon pine and
juniper trees. No structures were threatened.