Twin N. California fires force thousands to flee
Blazes north of San Francisco grow to 250 square miles.
SAN FRANCISCO — Twin wildfires fueled by dry vegetation and hot, windy weather continued to grow Saturday in Northern California, destroying 55 homes and forcing thousands of residents to flee their neighborhoods.
California fire officials said Saturday that the two fires about 100 miles north grew to almost 250 square miles.
The two fires cover an area larger than the wildfire that damaged parts of Redding, California, last week and continues to grow.
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection officials said that fire was started two weeks ago by sparks from the steel wheel of a towed trailer’s flat tire.
“This is a particularly dangerous situation with extremely low humidity and high winds. New fires will grow rapidly out of control, in some cases people may not be able to evacuate safely in time should a fire approach,” the weather service said in its bulletin for the Mendocino area north of San Francisco.
As a precaution, new evacuations were called Friday for an area of Mendocino and Lake counties where the weekold twin fires are threatening about 9,000 homes.
The dual fires have charred an area of the forested, rural area five times the size of San Francisco and were only 27 percent contained. Thousands of people remain evacuated.
The fire remained several miles from the evacuated communities along the eastern shore of Clear Lake, but “it looks like there’s dicey weather on the way,” California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokeswoman Jane LaBoa said.
However, some days-old evacuations were lifted Friday in an area near Redding, where armies of firefighters and fleets of aircraft have been battling an immense blaze about 100 miles south of the Oregon line. Some areas on the fire’s southeastern flank were reopened to residents.
The so-called Carr Fire was 41 percent contained after killing six people and incinerating 1,067 homes.
Gov. Jerry Brown was scheduled to visit the fire area in Shasta County on Saturday.
The fire burned slowly for days before winds whipped it up last week and drove it furiously through brush and timber. The blaze burned so furiously July 26 that it created a “fire whirl.” The twirling tower of flame reached speeds of 143 mph, which rivaled some of the most destructive Midwest tornadoes, National Weather Service meteorologist Duane Dykema said. The whirl uprooted trees and tore roofs from homes, Dykema said.