Summer of flame rages
UPPER LAKE: Days after wildfires left a deadly swathe of destruction in Northern California rural counties, new blazes exploded into life and threatened more homes in what has become an endless summer of flame in the Golden State.
North of San Francisco, a fire threatened homes in an old ranching and farming area near Covelo. About 60 homes were ordered evacuated as the blaze erupted on Tuesday and winds whipped flames through brush, grass, oak, pine and fir near Mendocino National Forest, Mendocino County Undersheriff Matthew Kendall said.
“We’re advised that the fire was threatening structures,” he said.
The area was only about 64km north of where twin fires in Mendocino and Lake counties have burned an area nearly three times the size of San Francisco, destroyed seven homes and threatened 12 000 more.
The Lake County seat of Lakeport remained under evacuation orders and was a virtual ghost town, although people were allowed back home in several smaller communities as firefighters shored up containment lines. Despite progress, the fires were only 12% contained. To the east, another blaze on Tuesday night raged through grassy cattle lands near Yuba City, covering more than 4km2 in a few hours.
The area was mainly a ranching area of barns and other buildings and no evacuations were ordered, said Scott McLean of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The new fires erupted without warning and spread with shocking speed through forest and brush that have literally become tinder. “It just goes on and on,” McLean said. “We had this rain at the beginning of the year and all that did was promote the growing of grass and brush… We’ve never really been out of the drought… We need several years of significant rainfall… to bring California back.” – AP/African News Agency (ANA)