Los Angeles: New wildfire spreading in central California mountains. California’s wildfire has spread rapidly in the US state’s central mountains. As firefighters were bringing a big blaze south of Los Angeles under control, authorities said.
The mosquito Fire has now swept through an area of more than 41,000 acres in the Sierra Nevada range northeast of San Francisco in four days, the official Cal Fire website reported.
It said while cooler temperatures; following more than a week of blistering heat, had somewhat slowed the fire’s progress. Moreover, stronger winds were pushing it to the north and northeast, threatening hundreds of homes.
With the small town of Foresthill facing a growing threat, “several more evacuation orders and warnings have been issued,” Cal Fire said.
The order for the evacuation of towns of Georgetown, Volcanoville and Bottle Hill were out earlier, the daily Sacramento Bee reported.
“This is the fourth time we’ve been evacuated up here,” Josh Manzer of Volcanoville told the Bee, “but this is the worst of it.”
Wildfires in California frequently occur in difficult terrain. In this one “there’s nowhere that has anywhere that’s flat,” Cal Fire spokesman Chris Vestal told local TV channel KSBW.
“Even the access roads, which normally are throughout those areas, don’t exist.”
According to authorities, airplanes and helicopters are assisting ground crews as weather allows.
On Saturday, firefighters were able to beat back the massive Fairview Fire south of Los Angeles after a tropical storm brought rains and cooler temperatures, authorities said.
The fire came amid a ferocious heat wave scorching the US southwest. Officials said that the fire had claimed two lives and destroyed 20 buildings.
The western US is more than two decades into a historic drought. Scientists say is getting worse by human-made climate change.
Much of the countryside is parched and overgrown. Creating the conditions for hot, fast and destructive wildfires.