Aided by drought, it had consumed more than 105 square miles and was 30 percent contained Tuesday evening. About 9,000 homes remain threatened.
Like the Grimms, some residents cried as they walked through the rubble of their homes while others shared unbelievable stories of survival when more people returned to their houses Tuesday and surveyed the twisted metal and smoking ruins left behind by a devastating California wildfire.
Napa Strike Team firefighters Mike Holmes and Dan Stith cover their eyes from the smoke during a controlled burn on Monday, September 14, 2015, in Adams, Calif.
People were ordered Sunday to evacuate a stretch that included Clear Lake Riviera, a town with about 3,000 residents, Cal Fire said.
The blaze, which started Saturday, has charred 105 square miles and destroyed at least 585 homes. Teter says Cal Fire tries to keep them on the fire line for no more than 14 days before giving them two days of rest, though that’s not always possible.
In the wake of the disaster, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said that the Obama administration is urging Congress to change the way the federal government spends on fighting wildfires.
Fires this summer have been growing bigger faster, and that’s one factor that could be making modeling harder, said Tim Sexton, a program manager with the Forest Service.
Light rain is predicted for Wednesday in the Valley Fire area, and the rainfall could help firefighters better contain the wildfire, the National Weather Service said Tuesday.
Authorities have lifted mandatory wildfire evacuation orders for dozens of residents in the small Central California communities of Goodmill and Crabtree, east of Fresno.
In other Western states, wildfires have burned large swaths of rangeland this year, killing cattle and leaving ranchers scrambling for space for their surviving herds.
For the first time in more than six weeks, firefighters are getting a handle on the fire that now has flames simmering in places. KTLA The footage shows the driver navigating through the deadly Valley fire in Northern California, according to reports.
Scores of people in Lake County were escorted back to their homes Tuesday to check on pets and farm animals.
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat ( http://bit.ly/1Nx1ieN ) reports Wednesday that Lake County Sheriff Brian Martin said he didn’t have further details about the arrests.
A YouTube user known as mulletFive filmed his escape through the Valley Fire wildfire northwest of Sacramento this past weekend. He was anxious to see if his two cats, chickens and hamster were still alive. He is hopeful they are still alive. Nine thousand more structures are threatened. Hundreds of structures-more than that actually- have been destroyed, and more to come.
But although temperatures are expected to be much cooler this week than last, fire officials remain on alert due to hot conditions and landscape left bone dry by a four-year drought. “We’re still handling about 1,000 emergency medical calls and fire calls in the county”, Wright said.
A blazing wildfire in northern California has grown to 270 square kilometres, with almost 600 homes destroyed. Containment is at 15%.