Tens of thousands flee northern California wildfire

OROVILLE, CALIF. — Tens of thousands of people were ordered to evacuate a fast-moving wildfire that exploded in size Thursday, threatening several northern California communities and forcing panicked residents to race to help neighbours and drive through walls of flames to escape.

The blaze destroyed an unknown number of structures and injured some civilians, but the extent of their injuries was not immediately known, said California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Capt. John Gaddie.

As people fled in cars, some abandoned their vehicles, running from encroaching flames as they held babies and pets in their arms, said Gina Oviedo, who described a devastating scene as she evacuated the town of Paradise. Flames were engulfing homes, utility poles were crashing down and things were exploding, she said.

“It’s a very dangerous and very serious situation,” Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea told The Associated Press. “I’m driving through fire as we speak. We’re doing everything we can to get people out of the affected areas.”

He confirmed reports that evacuees had to abandon their vehicles as they fled the scene.

“We’re getting them on other vehicles with room. We’re working very hard to get people out. The message I want to get out is if you can evacuate, you need to evacuate,” Honea said.

All of Paradise, a town of about 27,000 people 180 miles (290 kilometres) northeast of San Francisco, was ordered to evacuate, said Butte County Sheriff’s spokesperson Miranda Bowersox.

The wildfire was reported at 6:30 a.m., Rick Carhart, a Cal Fire spokesperson, said. Within roughly six hours, the fire had grown to 26,500 square miles (68,600 square kilometres), said Gaddie.

“The blaze is being driven by fairly strong winds,” Carhart said. “It’s really dry and we have low humidity — and unfortunately those are great conditions for a fire to spread.”

A hospital and several schools were evacuated as thick grey smoke and ash filled the sky above Paradise and could be seen from miles away.

The Adventist Health Feather River Hospital in Paradise evacuated staff and 41 patients to other hospitals, given its proximity to the fire, said Jill Kinney, an Adventist Health spokesperson. She said a group of 20 other patients were initially evacuated but then returned to the facility because of gridlocked traffic.

Gaddie, the fire official, said authorities were “working on a plan” to rescue the patients.

Some of the hospital’s “outbuildings,” such as outpatient clinics, caught fire and were damaged but the main hospital was not, said Kinney.

Four of the hospital’s employees were briefly trapped in the basement and rescued by California Highway Patrol officers, Kinney said.

Shari Bernacett said she and her husband tried to get people to leave the mobile home park they manage in Paradise and had minutes to evacuate.

She and her husband “knocked on doors, yelled and screamed” to alert as many of the residents of 53 mobile homes and recreational vehicles as possible, Bernacett said.

The National Weather Service issued red flag warnings for fire dangers in many areas of the state, saying low humidity and strong winds were expected to continue through Friday.