A pair of California wildfires have quickly spread, threatening hundreds of homes and forcing evacuations at a popular lakeside campground and a summer camp where flames temporarily trapped children and counselors, a fire official said.
In other parts of the western US, evacuation orders were lifted in Colorado and Montana towns threatened by wildfires, while air and ground crews battled a growing grass fire in northwestern Colorado.
The fire that started early on Saturday afternoon in California’s Santa Barbara County had spread to both sides of Highway 154 and was “completely out of control,” county Fire Department Captain Dave Zaniboni said.
Photo: AFP
About 90 children and 50 counselors were struck at the Circle V Ranch and had to take shelter there until they could be safely evacuated.
The Santa Barbara County fire was one of three in California that grew quickly as much of the state baked in heat that broke records.
A record that stood 131 years in Los Angeles was snapped when the temperature spiked at 36.7°C downtown. The previous record of 35°C was set in 1886, the US National Weather Service said.
Forecasters warned that temperatures up to 43.3°C would be common in some inland areas and could be deadly for the elderly, children and outdoor workers.
Air quality reached “unhealthy” and “very unhealthy” levels in areas inland from Los Angeles.
High temperatures and dry gusts tripled the size of another Santa Barbara wildfire to about 77km2 over eight hours and forced evacuations of about 200 homes in a rural area east of Santa Maria, fire spokesman Kirk Sturm said.
After five years of severe drought, California got a big break with record rainfall and snowpack in parts of the state this year that has delayed the start of fire season in some places, but has also led to explosive vegetation growth that could fuel future fires.
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 97km north of Sacramento grew rapidly to nearly 11km2 and was 20 percent contained, the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.
The area burning was about 16km south of Oroville, where spillways in the nation’s tallest dam began crumbling from heavy rains this winter and led to temporary evacuation orders for 200,000 residents downstream.
In Colorado, residents of nearly 500 homes outside the ski town of Breckenridge were allowed to return home on Friday night.
The grass fire in northwestern Colorado had burned 47km2 and was spreading in several directions at once because of wind patterns from passing thunderstorms, fire information officer Chris Barth said.
A wildfire in southern Wyoming grew to 8km2. An unknown number of cabins remained under evacuation orders.
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