LOS ANGELES, July 9, 2008
Fires Force More Calif. Evacuations
Town North Of Sacramento Gets Evacuation Order As Heat Wave And High Winds Fuel Wildfires
-
Play CBS Video Video Calif. Wildfires Still Burning Firefighters in California are struggling to put out massive wildfires in the face of continued heat and high winds in California. "Early Show" weather anchor Dave Price examines these fierce blazes.
-
Video More Calif. Fires Forecasted Firefighters are making progress against the massive wildfires that have torn across the state, but a forecast of high heat and dry winds has fire crews concerned. Dave Price reports.
-
Video Wildfires Rage In California Fire crews are fighting exhaustion as they battle more than 1,000 active wildfires across the state. Sandra Hughes reports.
-
-
Firefighter Brooke Grossini, of Santa Barbara Calif., hoses down flames during a backburn operation along Highway 1 in Big Sur, Calif. Firefighters continue to fight the Basin Complex Fire in the Los Padres National Forest near Big Sur. Fires have burned more than 800 square miles of land and destroyed at least 69 homes throughout California in the past two weeks. (AP)
-
Members of the Platte Canyon fire crew, out of Bailey, Colo., take down hot spots in a wildfire-ravaged forest in Big Sur, Calif., July 7, 2008. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
-
Firefighter Brian Britton, of Ojai, Calif., throws flares unto a hillside during a backburn operation along Highway 1 in Big Sur, Calif., July 6, 2008. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
-
-
Interactive Wildfires Photo essays, the worst U.S. fires, facts on fire science and health issues.
-
Photo Essay Big Sur Blaze Popular tourist region deserted as wildfires burn hillsides above scenic coastal community.
Authorities ordered residents of 3,200 homes in Paradise to evacuate their homes Tuesday after fire destroyed 40 houses in the nearby rural community of Concow. Evacuation orders also remained in place for 800 to 1,000 residents from Concow and Yankee Hill, about 85 miles north of Sacramento.
In the hills near Paradise, gusting winds whipped flames into out-of-control infernos.
"All we can do is manage the fire as we go, when they get into a structure we just divert the fire around the structure make the structure safe," Capt. Scott Agnelli of Pajaro Valley told CBS News' Early Show meteorologist Dave Price.
"Right now we're battling the weather and the erratic winds," said Todd Simmons, a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman. "Whatever the winds are doing, that's pretty much what the fire's going to do."
Firefighters also were struggling against a sudden drop in humidity and a spike in temperature as a heat wave forecast to linger until the weekend grips much of the state.
About 30 lightning-sparked wildfires in Butte County, where Paradise and Concow are located, have charred 47,000 acres in recent weeks and were about 40 percent contained, officials said.
Fire crews across the state have been trying to cover hundreds of active California wildfires, many of which were ignited by a lightning storm more than two weeks ago. Some 1,450 fires had been contained late Tuesday, but more than 320 were still active, authorities said.
"Just when we get a handle on one, Mother Nature turns her back on us and we got another one pop up," firefighter Joshpae White told CBS News correspondent Teri Okita.
At a fire east of Bakersfield on Tuesday, wind gusts caused flames to jump fire lines and destroy or damage five residences and four more outbuildings in the Sequoia National Forest.
A blaze threatening the small coastal community of Big Sur let up just enough to allow hundreds of people to check on their homes Tuesday. Authorities announced that more residents would be allowed to return Wednesday morning.
At least 23 homes and 25 other structures have been destroyed in Big Sur as flames marched over more than 125 square miles of land since June 21.
Although that fire is far from controlled - the rugged terrain has kept containment at 23 percent into the fire's third week - authorities lifted the mandatory evacuation order issued for 25 miles of the 31-mile stretch along the Pacific Coast Highway that had been closed.
Many of the 1,500 evacuated residents of Big Sur headed home Tuesday morning through smoke and ash, anxious to gauge the damage. Officials, however, cautioned that the lifted evacuation orders did not mean conditions had drastically improved.
"We stayed on my mother-in-law's floor for a little bit and then we stayed on somebody else's floor for a while," said returning Big Sur resident Chris Sutton, "and it'll be good to be getting back to our own bed soon."
A wildfire in the Los Padres National Forest near Santa Barbara grew slightly to 9,785 acres, or about 15 square miles, but the number of homes threatened dropped sharply Tuesday as crews secured fire lines near populated areas.
The blaze continues to threaten about 250 homes, down from a peak of more than 3,000. The fire is 55 percent contained, said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Debbie Becker.
"It's going according to plan," Becker said "They've really got a good hold on this fire but there's still a lot of potential to get worse."
The expected heat wave raised not only the fire danger, but also concerns about heat illness among firefighters worn down by the long fight against blazes that have consumed more than 985 square miles in California since late June.
"We do have a lot of fatigue because of the low numbers of resources in the state," said Thom Walsh, a Forest Service resource unit leader.
Crews took rest breaks in refrigerated trailers with bunk beds before returning to the field, but heat stroke was a worry, Walsh said.
Highs are likely to be in the triple digits across much of the northern half of the state until at least Friday, National Weather Service forecaster Christine Riley said.
Temperature records for the date were broken in five cities Tuesday. Among them was Sacramento, where the temperature reached 108 Fahrenheit, breaking the previous high of 104 degrees set in 1997. Stockton recorded 105 F and Modesto 107 F, both breaking records for July 8 set in 2006.
Despite the soaring temperatures, California's power grid was able to handle the energy demand, said Kristina Osborn, a spokeswoman for the California Independent System Operator, the agency that monitors the state's power grid.
Smoke from the wildfires could help keep temperatures a few degrees lower in some areas, even as it increases health risks. At night however, the smoke acts like a blanket, holding in the heat, said National Weather Service forecaster George Cline.
State agencies were prepared to open cooling centers if needed. Officials also were checking regularly for heat problems at hospitals and centers serving the elderly and those with disabilities.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
More From U.S.
Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
- 1
- 2
- next
See all 28 CommentsIt''s always been burnin''...
Sense the world''s been turnin''
If your god is willing to prevent evil, but is unable to, your god is not omnipotent;
If your god is able to prevent evil, but not willing, your god is malevolent;
If your god is able and willing to prevent evil, how can it exist?;
If your god is unable and unwilling to prevent evil, why call it god?
Get a grip.
Too bad for the home owners.
Thank the fire fighters for their efforts.
Who are you to judge?
Posted by mcv57
I see you making lots of judgmental comments. Are you trying to be funny, or what?
FYI, I can judge whoever or whatever I please. I am not hiding under my bed like you, worried about some invisible dude in the sky.
Don''t worry about me, Jesus is my homeboy.
PS. It is spelled "Sodom and Gomorrah" and sorry, but if God wants to punish a town for its wickedness, I''m pretty sure he would choose a town other than Big Sur or Paradise.
Who are you to judge?
You need to be saved - go to church and read the Bible.
For example, he could replace Las Vegas with a giant porcelain toilet overnight. I mean BIG, like 50 miles across. Now, that would be a true sign that god is pissed, LOL.
That is cold ....
- 1
- 2
- next
See all 28 Comments