Scattered thunderstorms were expected to move into Northern California again on Monday with lightning threatening to spark new wildfires in dry vegetation, forecasters said. A day earlier, storms caused flash flooding in Southern California that damaged roads in Death Valley National Park. Since breaking out Friday, the fast-moving McKinney fire has forced at least 2,000 residents to evacuate, destroying homes and vital infrastructure, mostly in Siskiyou County, where the Klamath National Forest is located, Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement Sunday. . WATCHES | Fires rage in California:
Firefighters continue to battle the flames in California
The fast-growing McKinney Fire in Northern California has burned more than 30,000 acres in the Klamath National Forest near the state’s border with Oregon. The situation is further complicated by storms that bring erratic winds that can drive the flames in unexpected directions. Two other fires in the county forced at least 200 residents to flee their homes, he said. Those fires have grown to more than 690 hectares in total since Sunday, the US Forest Service said. Nearly 5,000 homes and other structures in Northern California were threatened and an unknown number of buildings have burned, said Adrienne Freeman, spokeswoman for the US Forest Service. The agency closed a 177-mile section of the famed Pacific Crest Trail in Northern California and southern Oregon, and dozens of hikers in that area were urged to abandon their hikes and head to nearby towns.
The McKinney fire is raging
Already the largest wildfire in California this year, the McKinney fire had burned at least 21,245 hectares, and none of it is considered contained, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, said in an update Sunday afternoon. The charred remains of a car towing a trailer are seen Sunday in northern California’s Klamath National Forest. (David McNew/AFP/Getty Images) The two bodies were found Sunday in a car parked on a residential street west of the Klamath River community, the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Monday. He said he would not have additional information about the deaths pending identification and notification of next of kin. More than two decades of drought and warming, exacerbated by climate change, have made California more vulnerable than ever to wildfires. The two most destructive years on record were 2020 and 2021 based on the number of acres burned. PHOTOS | McKinney Fire Devastates California: Valerie Linfoot’s son, a firefighter, called to tell her their family home of three decades on the Klamath River had burned down. Linfoot said her husband worked as a U.S. Forest Service firefighter for years, and the family did everything they could to prepare their home for a fire — including installing a metal roof and trimming trees and tall grass around the house. property.
“It’s a beautiful place…it’s completely ruined”
“It was as safe as we could make it, and it was so dry and so hot and the fire was going so fast,” Linfoot told the Bay Area News Group. She said her neighbors have also lost homes. “It’s a beautiful place. And from what I’ve seen, it’s just decimated. It’s completely destroyed,” he told the news outlet. Fire crews on the ground were trying to prevent the fire from moving closer to the town of Yreka, population about 7,500. The fire was about 4 miles away as of Monday. Thick smoke over the fire area helped limit the growth of the McKinney Fire on Sunday, but also grounded aircraft used to fight the blaze, the US Forest Service said in a statement. Newsom declared a state of emergency for Siskiyou County on Sunday. The declaration will help residents access federal aid and unlock state resources. One of those forced to evacuate was Harlene Althea Schwander, 81, an artist who moved to the area just a month ago to be near her son and daughter-in-law. A burned van sits in a clearing as the McKinney Fire burns in the Klamath National Forest on Sunday. (Noah Berger/The Associated Press) “I’m very sad. My house is gone, all my furniture, all my clothes, shoes, coats, boots. Everything is gone,” Schwander told Reuters on Sunday outside an American Red Cross evacuation shelter in the city Weed, about 60 years old. kilometers south of the McKinney fire. It is the second major wildfire to break out in California this season. The Oak Fire near Yosemite National Park is 67 percent contained after charring more than 7,787 hectares, Cal Fire said on its website.