Scenic river hamlet wiped out by wildfire
KLAMATH RIVER, Calif. — The scenic Northern California hamlet of Klamath River was home to about 200 people, a community centre where they gathered, a corner store and a post office. But the deadly wildfire raging through the forested region near the Oregon state line jumped the river last weekend and turned most of the community into ashes.
Residents are now picking through the burned out shells of their modest houses. Eighty-year-old Roger Derry and his son are among the few families whose homes were spared by the inferno.
“It’s very sad. It’s very disheartening,” said Derry, who has lived in the unincorporated town for more than four decades. “Some of our oldest homes, 100-year-old homes, are gone. It’s a small community. Good people, good folks, for the most part, live here and in time will rebuild. But it’s going to take some time now.”
The McKinney Fire was still out of control on Wednesday despite some progress by firefighters who took advantage of thunderstorms that dumped rain and temporarily lowered heat that can help fan flames in the parched region.
Several thousand people remained under evacuation orders, 100 buildings ranging from homes to greenhouses have burned and at least four bodies have been found near Klamath River within the burned area of the wildfire that is among those that have become fiercer in recent years throughout the Western U.S.
The fire has charred nearly 233 square kilometres since it erupted last Friday and is the largest of several wildfires burning in the Klamath National Forest.