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 The so-called King Fire, the most menacing of 11 major wildfires
raging across the drought-parched state, has scorched nearly 28,000
acres (11,331 hectares) of state land and the El Dorado National
Forest since it erupted Saturday, fire officials said.
As of Wednesday, a force of 3,300 firefighters had managed to carve
containment lines around 5 percent of the blaze's perimeter,
according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection's website.
No buildings were believed lost, but CalFire said more than 3,500
structures, including at least 2,000 homes, were threatened by the
blaze, and evacuation orders were in effect for residents in those
homes.
Late on Wednesday, Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of
emergency in response to the King Fire and a blaze further north,
putting all state resources at the disposal of his Office of
Emergency Services.
Numerous campgrounds were closed in the forest, a popular
destination for river rafting and other activities east of
Sacramento. Two firefighters were reported hurt with
non-life-threatening injuries, said CalFire spokeswoman Lannette
Rangel.
The fire, stoked by strong, erratic winds, dry vegetation and low
humidity, was burning largely unchecked in steep canyon terrain
along the south fork of the American River and Silver Creek, north
of the community of Pollock Pines.
Winds were blowing the flames mostly away from populated areas on
Wednesday, Rangel said. But crews were bracing for an expected shift
that would likely drive the fire back toward evacuated communities
along U.S. Highway 50.
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Mounting danger from the blaze came after crews halted the advance
of another fire hundreds of miles to the north in the Cascade range
on Tuesday, after 150 buildings were lost in the town of Weed near
Mount Shasta and the Oregon border.
Police volunteer Mark Merrill said two churches and a sawmill were
among buildings damaged or destroyed in the historic logging town of
3,000 people.
More than 30 homes and two dozen other structures were consumed in a
third fire in and around Sierra foothill communities south of
Yosemite National Park.
California's fire season, which traditionally runs from May to
October, is on track to be the most destructive on record, state
fire managers say.
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis and Steve Gorman in Los Angeles;
Additional reporting by Eric M. Johnson and Curtis Skinner; Editing
by Cynthia Johnston, Bill Trott and Eric Walsh)
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