Summer camp children flee fires
WILDFIRES have swept across wide areas of the western US and Canada, destroying homes, forcing thousands to flee and temporarily trapping children and staff at a California camp ground.
A pair of wildfires sparked by record-breaking heat in southern California quickly spread, threatening hundreds of homes in Santa Barbara County, spreading to both sides of Highway 154, county fire captain Dave Zaniboni said.
About 90 children and 50 counsellors were stuck at the Circle V Ranch and had to take shelter until they could be safely evacuated.
High temperatures and dry gusts tripled the size of another Santa Barbara wildfire to nearly 30 square miles over eight hours and forced evacuations of about 200 homes in a rural area east of Santa Maria, fire spokesman Kirk Sturm said.
Santa Barbara officials sent out alerts to residents and campers near Cachuma Lake to evacuate as the fire started near Whittier Camp, Mr Zaniboni said.
The lake, which was nearly bonedry last summer after the severe drought, is popular for camping, boating and fishing. Residents were also ordered to leave cabins in the Los Padres National Forest.
The fire burned at least 4.7 square miles, including a portion of the Cachuma Lake campground.
In northern California, a Butte County wildfire swept through grassy foothills and destroyed 10 structures, including homes, and led to several minor injuries. The blaze, about 60 miles north of Sacramento, grew rapidly to more than seven square miles and was 20% contained, said officials.
The area burning was about 10 miles south of Oroville, where spillways in the nation’s tallest dam began crumbling from heavy rains this winter and led to evacuation orders for 200,000 residents downstream.
On Saturday, authorities issued an evacuation for about 250 homes threatened by the fire. After five years of drought, California got record rainfall and snow in parts of the state this year that delayed the start of fire season in some places.
In Canada, firefighters were contending with nearly 200 wildfires in British Columbia that had destroyed dozens of buildings, including several homes and two airport hangars.