Wildfire escalates in northern California, people flee homes

[August 12, 2015]  By Curtis Skinner
 
 SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A wildfire burning in northern California grew rapidly on Tuesday near another massive blaze that has destroyed dozens of buildings, forcing some residents to evacuate their homes for the second time in as many weeks.

The so-called Jerusalem Fire, sparked on Sunday, has spread across 14,000 acres (5,665 hectares) and was burning aggressively through drought-parched vegetation north of Napa Valley wine country, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said.

Evacuation orders were expanded on Tuesday for residents in Lake County, but the number of people displaced was not known, the agency said.

Earlier in the day, official said 150 people were forced to leave their homes. The fire, burning about 100 miles (160 km) north of San Francisco, was 5 percent contained, Cal Fire said.

The blaze was advancing through an area just miles from the perimeter of the 69,636-acre (28,180-hectare) Rocky Fire, California's fiercest wildfire so far this season.

That blaze has destroyed 43 homes and 50 outbuildings and forced hundreds of residents across three counties to evacuate the rural ranch lands, Cal Fire said.

Some evacuees who had been allowed to return home as firefighters gained control of the blaze over the weekend were again forced to flee the Jerusalem Fire, officials said.

Strong winds were expected to increase the risk of fire in Northern California for several days this week, according to Cal Fire.

The two fires were among dozens burning across the American West.

Firefighters reported progress on Tuesday in containing a northwestern Arizona blaze that forced people out of about 1,000 homes and charred some 6,073 acres (2,457 hectares).

Triggered by lightning, the Willow Fire in the Mohave Valley was 40 percent contained and the flames abated overnight, officials said.

A grass fire that started in the small town of Sherwood, Oregon, 18 miles (29 km) southwest of Portland, caused much of the historic Portland and Western Railroad trestle to collapse overnight, Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue said in a statement.

The Wolverine Fire in the northern Cascade mountains of Washington state has grown to cover 34,500 acres (13,961 hectares) after gusty winds cropped up overnight, according to the InciWeb fire information center.

About 360 people were evacuated from a camping area in the year-round Lutheran retreat of Holden Village, an Interagency Coordination Center spokeswoman said.

(Additional reporting by Shelby Sebens in Portland, Oregon and Victoria Cavaliere in Los Angeles; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

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