The fire-stricken Northern California town of Weed has long been seen by passersby as a whimsical spot to stop along Interstate 5 and buy an ironic T-shirt, but residents say they have grown edgy in recent years due to a new danger: Dark skies, swirling ash and flames that race so quickly they leave little time for escape.
Their fears exploded to life again in the past few days as California’s latest inferno burned homes and buildings and forced evacuations in the small community about 451km northeast of San Francisco.
Among the thousands of people displaced was Naomi Vogelsang. Her home destroyed, dog missing, and 10-year relationship with her boyfriend recently ended — all she could do on Saturday was sit outside a wildfire evacuation center with US$20 in her pocket, waiting for a ride to the casino.
Photo: AP
“It can’t be any worse,” she said.
The day before, flames raced from Roseburg Forest Products, which makes wood products, into Weed’s Lincoln Heights neighborhood where a significant number of homes burned and residents had to flee.
The blaze known as the Mill Fire had spread to more than 17km2 by Saturday evening and was 25 percent contained.
Photo: AP
After fleeing the fire, 63-year-old Judy Christenson remembered a similar escape 40 years ago when, as a young parent, she had to rush her children out of a burning home. Last summer, a wildfire forced her to evacuate and leave her pets behind.
Now, she leaves harnesses on her pets all the time so she can grab them at a moment’s notice and leave, Christenson said.
“Whenever this happens, I get really bad,” Christenson said from the front seat of a car at an evacuation center in Yreka as Felix, her orange cat, napped in the backseat. “I can’t think straight.”
Weed is no stranger to wildfires. Strong winds in the area that fan flames drew the town’s founder for a very different reason. Abner Weed, a American Civil War soldier, chose to put a sawmill there because the wind would dry out the timber, said Bob West, a lifelong resident.
The winds make Weed and the surrounding area a perilous place for wildfires, whipping small flames into a frenzy. Weed has seen three major fires since 2014, a period of extreme drought that has prompted the largest and most destructive fires in California history.
Evacuation orders were quickly put in effect on Friday for 7,500 people — including West, who is 53 and has lived in Weed since he was one years old. He had never had to evacuate for a fire, but now he has had to do it twice.
“It’s way worse than it used to be,” he said.
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Siskiyou Unit Chief Phil Anzo said crews worked all day and night to protect structures in Weed and in a subdivision to the east known as Carrick Addition.
He said about 100 structures were destroyed.
Two people were brought to Mercy Medical Center Mount Shasta. One was in stable condition and the other was transferred to UC Davis Medical Center, which has a burn unit.
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