PLYMOUTH, Calif. (AP) — Firefighters in Northern California
on Sunday battled a wildfire that has destroyed 10 homes and forced
hundreds of evacuations in the Sierra Nevada foothills, while a fire
near Yosemite National Park destroyed one home and grew significantly
overnight.
East of Sacramento, the Sand Fire in the Sierra
foothills has burned about 3,800 acres, roughly 6 square miles, of
steep, rugged terrain near wine-growing regions in Amador and El Dorado
counties since Friday, according to the California Department of
Forestry and Fire Protection.
The fire, which has also destroyed
seven outbuildings, was 35 percent contained Sunday afternoon, but it
threatens hundreds of homes in the drought-stricken region, according to
CalFire.
"All of the vegetation in the area is struggling. It’s
burning very easily," spokeswoman Lynne Tolmachoff said. "It causes the
fire to be a lot hotter and to spread more easily."
The Sand Fire
has prompted authorities to evacuate about 500 homes and close several
roads near the town of Plymouth. Nearly 1,500 firefighters, aided by
aircraft including a DC-10 air tanker, are working to control the blaze.
CalFire officials say the fire started Friday when a vehicle drove over dry vegetation.
Alfred
Shults, his wife, Carolyn, and their granddaughter fled their home in
El Dorado County on Friday after receiving an automated telephone call
ordering residents to evacuate, according to the Sacramento Bee. Before
he left, Shults said he packed as much as he could into his vehicle and
turned on a sprinkler to soak the area around his beloved motorcycle.
"We
just wanted to get out of there, and hope there’s something left when
we get back," Alfred Shults, 65, told the Bee on Saturday as they waited
for news at an evacuation center in Placerville.
West of Yosemite
National Park, a wildfire that began Saturday afternoon quadrupled in
size overnight to 2,100 acres, or more than 3 square miles, and was
burning out of control Sunday. It destroyed one home in the small
community of Foresta, adjacent to the park, Ranger Scott Gediman said.
The park itself remained open.
About 400 firefighters aided by
fixed-wing helicopters were battling the flames Yosemite, Gediman said.
The cause wasn’t immediately known.
An estimated 100 homes in
Foresta and the small community of Old El Portal were evacuated
Saturday, and residents remained out of their homes on Sunday. Two
shelters were opened for people and animals.
"There have been no injuries so far, which is wonderful," Gediman said.
The
park itself, home to such sites as Half Dome mountain, Yosemite
Meadows, a grove of Giant Sequoia trees and other wonders, remained open
throughout the day Sunday. None of its treasures were threatened,
Gediman said, although some areas were smoky.
The Crane Flat
campground and a portion of Highway 120, a major highway leading to the
park from the San Francisco Bay Area, were closed, but other roads were
open. So were hotels and other amenities.
Wildfires also burned in other Western states, including Washington, Oregon, Colorado and Utah.
The
nation’s largest wildfire — the 618-square-mile Buzzard Complex in
eastern Oregon, 45 miles northeast of Burns — remained at 95 percent
contained on Sunday. Incident reports from the fire say containment
lines continue hold as crews monitor increased fire activity.
In
north-central Washington, the Carlton Complex fire, the biggest in the
state’s history, continued to burn Sunday in rising temperatures, but no
major flare-ups have been reported.
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