Thousands more flee wildfires as deadliest blaze slows down
Thousands more people fled their homes after wildfires surged near a small lake town in Northern California, and the advance of the state’s largest, deadliest blaze slowed slightly after days of explosive growth, authorities said.
In all, more than 10,000 people were under mandatory evacuation orders from the two blazes in Mendocino and Lake counties. Those fires were among 17 burning across the state, where fire crews were stretched to the limit.
A man whose wife and two great-grandchildren were among the six people who perished in the so-called Carr Fire, near Redding, California, said he did not receive any warning to evacuate.
Ed Bledsoe told CBS News
he did not know his home was in danger when he left his wife, Melody, and the 4- and 5-yearold children to run an errand on Thursday.
Bledsoe said he received a phone call from his wife 15 minutes later saying he needed to get home because the fire was approaching. He said one of the children told him the blaze was at the back door. When he tried to return, the road was blocked with cars, and flames prevented him from returning on foot.
Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko told the network there’s an investigation into whether the Bledsoe home received a warning call or a knock on the home’s door. The sheriff says there is evidence that door-to-door notifications were made in the area.
The latest evacuations included about 1,000 people in Mendocino County, Undersherriff Matthew Kendall said Monday.
The rest are in Lake County, where residents of the town of Lakeport, population 5,000, were ordered to leave Sunday night. Two other towns with about 5,000 people are also under mandatory evacuation.
The two blazes have destroyed six homes and are threatening 10,000 others. The fires had blackened 87 square miles (225 square kilometres), with minimal containment.
The wildfires that started Friday are about 100 miles (160 kilometres) southwest of Redding.
Crews handling the blaze near Redding struck a hopeful tone for the first time in days as the massive fire slowed after days of rapid expansion.
“We’re feeling a lot more optimistic today as we’re starting to gain some ground rather than being in a defensive mode on this fire all the time,” said Bret Gouvea, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s incident commander on the blaze around Redding, a city about 230 miles (370 kilometres) north of San Francisco.
As of Monday, the Redding fire had destroyed 723 homes, up from a previous count of 657 homes.
Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko said authorities found a sixth victim of the blaze at a home that was consumed by flames, though he declined to say where. The victim’s identity was not released.
Authorities were also investigating at least 18 missingpersons reports, though many of them may simply be people who have not checked in with friends or family, police said.
The Carr Fire that threatened Redding - a city of about 92,000 people - was ignited by a vehicle problem a week ago about 10 miles (16 kilometres) west of the city.