Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
California blaze threatens homes
Wildfire near LA one of largest ever, only 15% contained
LOS ANGELES — An enormous wildfire that churned through mountains northeast of Los Angeles and into the Mojave Desert was still threatening homes Monday and was one of more than two dozen major fires burning across California.
Five of the largest wildfires in state history are currently burning and more than 5,600 square miles have been charred, an area larger than Connecticut, Gov. Gavin Newsom said.
At 165 square miles, the Bobcat Fire is one of the largest ever in Los Angeles County after burning for more than two weeks. It’s just 15% contained.
Evacuation orders and warnings are in place for thousands of residents in foothill and desert areas, where semirural homes and a popular nature sanctuary have burned. Statewide, at least 23,000 people remain evacu- ated, Newsom said.
No injuries have been reported for the fire about 50 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles.
Erratic winds that drove flames into the community of Juniper Hills over the weekend had died down, said U.S. Forest Service spokesman Larry Smith.
“It’s slightly cooler too, so hopefully that will be a help to firefighters,” Smith said.
Officials said it could be days before teams determine the scope of the destruction in the area burned by the Bobcat Fire.
Early estimates are that 6,400 buildings have been destroyed across the state, but Newsom said “by no stretch of the imagination do we think this tells the entire story.”
The Bobcat Fire started Sept. 6 and has doubled in size over the past week as it ripped through forested areas that hadn’t burned in decades. The cause is under investigation.
Firefighters battled back against another flareup near Mount Wilson, which overlooks greater Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Mountains and has a historic observatory founded more than a century ago and numerous broadcast antennas serving Southern California.
Flames destroyed the nature center at Devil’s Punchbowl Natural Area, a geological attraction that sees some 130,000 visitors per year. A wildlife sanctuary on the property was undamaged, and staff and animals had been evacuated days earlier.
Nearly 19,000 firefighters in California are currently battling 27 major blazes, Newsom said. At least 7,900 wildfires have erupted in the state this year, many during a mid-August barrage of dry lightning that ignited parched vegetation.
Twenty-six people have been killed.
In Wyoming, officials warned that gusty winds on Monday could cause more growth of a wildfire burning toward cabins and an important water supply reservoir that’s a major source of water for the state’s capital city, Cheyenne. The fire in the Medicine Bow National Forest is burning in heavily forested, rugged terrain.
And in Colorado, more evacuations were ordered Sunday as winds caused the state’s largest wildfire to grow. Firefighters had to temporarily retreat from the massive Cameron Peak Fire near Red Feather Lakes. Flames later spread into flatter ground, which gave crews a better chance to battle the blaze, fire managers said.
More than 9,000 firefighters continue battling 27 large wildfires across Oregon and Washington, where thousands of homes have been destroyed, the Pacific Northwest Region of the Forest Service said.