California fires burn boats, threaten Gold Rush-era relics
SHASTA, Calif. (AP) — Even a reservoir didn’t provide safe harbor from erratic California wildfires.
With flames exploding around Whiskeytown Lake, an effort to save boats at a Northern California marina by untying them from moorings and pushing them to safety, wasn’t swift enough to spare them all.
Dozens of charred, twisted and melted boats were among the losses counted Thursday at Oak Bottom Marina as firefighters continued to battle flames.
“The only buildings left standing ... right now are the fire station and a couple of restrooms,” said Fire Chief Mike Hebrard of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. “The boat docks down there — all the way out in the water — 30 to 40 boats caught fire when the fire laid down on top of them last night and burned those up.”
Wildfires throughout the state have burned through tinder-dry brush and forest, forced thousands to evacuate homes and forced campers to pack up their tents at the height of summer. Gov. Jerry Brown declared states of emergency for the three largest fires, which will authorize the state to rally resources to local governments.
The fire burning west of Redding, about 100 miles south of the Oregon state line, tripled in size overnight and then grew another 50 percent through the day to 45 square miles. Stiff winds drove walls of flames into the historic Gold Rush-era town of Shasta, where state parks employees had worked through the early morning to rescue historic artifacts from a museum as the blaze advanced.
The so-called Carr Fire was just one of several wildfires that have dispatched firefighters to all corners of the state amid an oppressive heat wave.
A huge forest fire continued to grow outside Yosemite National Park. About 100 homes were still under threat in the San Francisco Bay community of Clayton, although firefighters had stopped the progress of a small fire there after one house burned.
Hundreds of miles to the south, winds picked up and sent flames rushing downhill on the flanks of Southern California’s Mount San Jacinto.
Helicopters making water drops and air tankers pouring red flame retardant circled overhead as flames burned both sides of the main road leading to the scenic town of Idyllwild.
The blaze erupted Wednesday and quickly turned into a wall of flame that torched timber and dry brush. In a matter of hours, the so-called Cranston Fire grew to 7.5 square miles About 3,000 residents were under evacuation orders Thursday in Idyllwild and several neighboring communities.
The Cranston Fire was the largest of at least five police believe were purposely set by a man whose car was spotted at the starting point of the blaze in Riverside County, officials said.
Brandon McGlover, 32, of Temecula was booked on suspicion of five counts of arson, state fire officials said.
The heart of Yosemite National Park remained empty the day after campers and hotel guests were evicted so firefighters could try to keep the state’s largest fire from entering the park nearly two weeks after it was sparked.