Officials said early Sunday morning that the 51,468-acre blaze — the largest so far in California’s still-early wildfire season — was 0 percent contained. State Highway 96 was closed along the Klamath River, and several other small, rural communities remained evacuated. The fire remained 0 percent contained Sunday afternoon, but no new evacuations were ordered, the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office said shortly before 7 p.m. The fire, however, remained at least 5½ miles from Yreka, according to an online map of the fire perimeter shared Sunday morning on Facebook by the Yreka Police Department. “Little progress was observed on the edge of the fire closer to the town of Yreka,” fire incident commanders wrote in their 8 a.m. update. A fire-mapping plane that flew the perimeter Sunday afternoon continued to show minimal spread toward Yreka, the Siskiyou County seat and home to 7,807 people. Larry Castle and his wife, Nancy, were among 2,000 people in Yreka who were told to leave their homes Saturday night. Officials went through neighborhoods tying red flags to the mailboxes of every house they checked to make sure the occupants had left. Larry Castle said he loaded up a trailer with some of his prized possessions, including his motorcycle and rifles, and he, Nancy and three dogs headed to Mount Shasta to spend the night at their daughter’s house. He hoped that the recent tree-thinning projects the foresters had carried out on the top of the ridge above Yreka would save the town, but he wasn’t taking any chances. “You look back at the Paradise fire and the Santa Rosa fire and you realize this thing is very, very serious,” he said, referring to wildfires in 2017 and 2018 that burned thousands of homes and killed dozens of people. A burned truck rests on California Highway 96 in the Klamath National Forest as the McKinney Fire burns nearby Saturday. Noah Berger AP
Fire creates lightning and winds
The huge smoke from the fire created its own weather, including storms. Lightning sparked other small fires, including one west of Fort Jones, according to Klamath National Forest officials. “The area remains under a red flag warning today for the threat of dry lightning and strong outflow winds associated with lightning,” officials wrote in their 8 a.m. update. “These conditions can be extremely dangerous for firefighters as winds can be erratic and extremely strong, causing the fire to spread in any direction.” The fire broke out at 2:38 p.m. on Friday at Highway 96 and McKinney Creek Road southwest of the Klamath River and the cause remains under investigation. Officials did not give a tally of buildings damaged, but maps show the fire has burned through small, isolated communities, including the unnamed Klamath River town of about 190 people, 20 miles west of Yreka. The fire burned at least a dozen residences and wildlife was seen fleeing to avoid the flames. Photos from the Grants Pass Daily Courier showed destroyed homes and the community center on the Klamath River as well as burned vehicles on Highway 96. Officials said they spent the night hours keeping homes and buildings in the Klamath River area from burning. Other small communities under evacuation include those in Seiad Valley, Scott Bar and Horse Creek. Stephanie Bossen of Klamath River and her dog, Biggie, were in Weed Sunday trying to find a place to stay. Because she lived in Yreka when the fire hit, she didn’t know if her house survived. She said she grew increasingly nervous as temperatures climbed to 100 degrees in recent days. “I knew it was going to be bad because all the dry heat and it’s been such a drought around here recently,” he said. “It would be bad somewhere. I just hoped it wasn’t so close to my house.” A horse grazes in a pasture as the McKinney Fire burns in the Klamath National Forest on Saturday. Noah Berger AP
Hikers and pets evacuated
On Saturday afternoon, Yreka police evacuated a mobile home park called Oakridge Mobile Estates “due to its proximity to the fire and the need for additional time to safely evacuate this group of residents,” the police department said in a post on Facebook.
Authorities provided buses to residents who needed transportation out of the area and set up an evacuation center at the Weed Community Center, 161 E. Lincoln Ave. Twenty-two people remained at the shelter Saturday night, said Stephen Walsh, a spokesman for the area chapter of the American Red Cross, which operates the site.
On Saturday, Fairchild Medical Center, the main hospital in Siskiyou County, transferred the patients, without “a great deal of caution,” to hospitals outside the area as far away as Sacramento, a hospital spokesman said.
But the hospital, located in a section of Yreka currently under an evacuation alert, remained open Sunday.
Officials also began compiling lists of animals lost or found due to the fire. updated information on animal housing and how to find animals lost in evacuation zones is available on the Siskiyou County website.
In the past 48 hours, the Rescue Ranch — a nonprofit dog adoption and rehabilitation center in Yreka — has seen more than 130 animals, mostly dogs, surrendered by evacuees unable to keep their pets in emergency shelters or motels, Natalie Golay . a Rescue Ranch spokeswoman said Sunday.
“They’re still coming in,” he said. One was a puppy that a news photographer took from outside a burning house inside the evacuation area. Golay said the owner, who lost his home, was reunited with his dog Sunday afternoon. The puppy’s name is Patches. However, it is not a completely happy ending. She said Patch’s owner fears for the lives of three other dogs he had to leave behind in the frantic evacuation.
NOT FOR BROADCAST: Post this for the owner. A small puppy, estimated to be 4 months old, was found wandering around the fire. The puppy was taken back to the town of Yreka and turned over to Rescue Ranch Inc as suggested by firefighters. #McKinneyFire pic.twitter.com/BOnKYFu6Sc
— AIO Filmz (@aiofilmz) July 30, 2022
The group put out a call on Facebook seeking stainless steel buckets, dog food and other donations to feed and care for the dogs.
Meanwhile, search and rescue teams from Oregon and California located hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail and escorted them to safety. The popular 2,650-mile hiking trail runs from Mexico to Canada and winds for 110 miles through the evacuated area.
About 60 hikers were transported by public transportation buses from the California side of the Red Buttes Wilderness Saturday afternoon, according to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office in Oregon.
The McKinney fire is the largest so far this year, accounting for nearly all of the area burned in California so far in 2022 before igniting.
Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Saturday in Siskiyou County.
Angela Crawford watches as a wildfire called the McKinney Fire burns a hillside above her home in the Klamath National Forest, California, Saturday, July 30, 2022. Crawford and her husband stayed as other residents evacuated to defend the home them from the fire. Noah Berger AP Flames from the McKinney wildfire consume trees along California Highway 96 in the Klamath National Forest, California, Saturday, July 30. Noah Berger AP Burned vehicles and homes line the Oaks Mobile Home Park in the Klamath River community as the McKinney Fire burns in the Klamath National Forest Saturday. Noah Berger AP Angela Crawford leans against a fence as the McKinney Fire burns a hillside above her home outside the Klamath National Forest on Saturday. Noah Berger AP The Klamath River Community Hall is seen destroyed by the McKinney Fire in the community of Klamath River, Calif., Saturday, July 30, 2022. (Scott Stoddard/Grants Pass Daily…
