2 bodies found inside car in massive fire in California
Authorities say two bodies have been found inside a burned-out vehicle in the path of a raging Northern California wildfire, one of several large fires burning across the western United States in recent weeks. hot, dry and windy conditions.
The McKinney Fire has grown to more than 82 square miles (212 square kilometers) after breaking out Friday in a largely uninhabited area in the Klamath National Forest, just south of Oregon. a Sunday night incident report. This is California’s biggest wildfire of the year to date.
The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office said Sunday that two bodies were found inside a charred vehicle in a residential area near a remote residential area of the Klamath River, California, the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office said. said in a statement on Monday. The victims were not immediately identified.
The fire burned trees along Highway 96 and ran through hillsides to see homes on Sunday. The flames cast an eerie orange-brown hue, in a neighborhood where a brick chimney was surrounded by rubble and scorched vehicles. Crews on the ground worked to prevent the fire from moving eastward into the town of Yreka, home to 7,500 people.
A second, smaller fire just to the west sparked by dry lightning Saturday threatened the tiny town of Seiad. About 400 structures are under threat from two fires in California. Authorities have yet to confirm the extent of the damage, saying assessments will begin once the safe area is accessible.
Courtney Kreider, a spokesman for the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office, said a third fire, at the southwest end of the McKinney fire, prompted about 500 homes to order evacuations on Sunday. The office said employees had been at the scene of the fire late Saturday but by the next morning it was “reopened and out of containment.”
Some people in the sheriff’s office were affected by the fire evacuation order “and they’re still working so (a) the team is very dedicated,” she said. One woman, she said, lost her childhood home in Friday’s fire.
Forecasters said thunderstorms that carry lots of lightning and threaten to spark new fires in dry fuel beds in Northern California are expected to flare up starting Monday.
In northwestern Montana, a wildfire that broke out in grasslands near the town of Elmo grew to about 17 square miles (44 square kilometers) on Sunday after entering the woods. Crews have been working along the edges of the fire and the aircraft is expected to continue to drip water and retardants to help slow the fire’s course, said Sara Rouse, a spokeswoman for the interagency team. assigned to fire fighting said. High temperatures and erratic winds were expected, she said.
A section of Highway 28 between Hot Springs and Elmo that was closed has been reopened with drivers asked to monitor fire and emergency personnel. Rouse says visibility in the area is poor.
In Idaho, the Moose Fire in the Salmon-Challis National Forest burned more than 75 square miles (196 square kilometers) of log land near the town of Salmon. It was contained 21% on Sunday. Pila Malolo, head of fire operations planning, said in an updated Facebook video that hot, dry conditions are expected to last Sunday. Officials said they expected the fire to develop in the steep, rough land south of the fire.
California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Saturday as the McKinney Fire intensified. This declaration allows Newsom more flexibility in making decisions about recovery efforts and emergency response and access to federal aid.
California law enforcement was knocking on the doors of the towns of Yreka and Fort Jones to urge residents to get out and safely evacuate their livestock onto trailers. Automated calls are also sent to landline lines as there are areas where cell phone service is not available.
Climate change has made the West warmer and drier over the past 30 years, scientists say, and will continue to make extreme weather and wildfires more frequent and destructive.
The Pacific Coast Trail Association urges hikers to head to the nearest town while the US Forest Service closes a 110-mile (177 km) stretch of trail from Etna Summit to Campground Mount Ashland camp in southern Oregon.
In Hawaii, the Maui County Emergency Management Agency said the brush fire was 90% under control but the red flag warning remained in effect for much of Sunday.
And in northern Texas, firefighters continue to work to contain the 2-week-old Chalk Mountain fire, which spans 10 1/2 square miles (27 1/3 square kilometers). Crews report now 83 percent of the blaze has destroyed 16 homes and damaged five others, about 50 miles (80 km) southwest of Fort Worth. No injuries have been reported.