California fires force the town of Paradise to evacuate

The 49,000-acre blaze in Butte County jumped a fire line Tuesday, forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents in Paradise, 90 miles north of Sacramento, and other nearby communities. Evacuation orders remained in effect this morning for 3,800 homes, said Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

 The fire was contained at 40% as of early this morning, but concern remained high that a shift in the winds or weather could come at any time.

"We saw active fire Tuesday night, with the fire growing about 2,000 acres," Berlant said. "It was nothing compared to how bad it was Monday night, but we still have a few days of bad conditions ahead of us until we catch a break."

Residents of Paradise, 82 miles (133 kilometers) north of Sacramento, including hospital patients, were evacuated during the night because of encroaching fires, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. They joined residents of Concow, 6 miles to the east, who were evacuated yesterday.

Excessive heat and high fire risk warnings are posted for a 681-mile stretch from southern Oregon to Los Angeles as a high pressure area sits over the West. Temperatures yesterday hit 107 degrees Fahrenheit (42 Celsius) in Modesto, breaking a record of 102 for the date in 2006, while Redding saw a high of 110, just shy of the 112 record for the date set in 2007.

``The hottest days look like it will be today and tomorrow,'' said Jeff Kopps, National Weather Service meteorologist in San Francisco. ``It is a wide swath of the West here, and that is probably the best way to look at it.''

Most of the state is covered today by a red flag warning, which means conditions are right for ``explosive fire growth.''

Since June 21, a total of 1,781 fires have burned 667,863 acres (270,274 hectares) throughout California and have cost $276 million to fight, according to state and federal fire reports.

Currently, 18,488 firefighters are battling 323 fires that threaten 15,636 homes and buildings and have forced the evacuation of thousands, including some residents of Big Sur, 150 miles south of San Francisco, and Goleta, about 84 miles north of Los Angeles.

Firefighters pushed back a blaze threatening this small coastal community just enough to allow hundreds of people to check on their homes Tuesday as a separate fire 300 miles north forced residents of another town to evacuate.

Fire crews have been straining to cover 330 active California wildfires, many of which were ignited by a lightning storm more than two weeks ago. A heat wave forecast to linger in much of the state until the weekend was making the job all the more difficult.

Winds of up to 30 mph fanned a blaze in Butte County, where firefighters went door to door overnight to evacuate 800 to 1,000 residents from the town of Concow, 85 miles north of Sacramento. A 15-square-mile fire threatening the rural town is one of 30 blazes that have been burning for weeks there.

"Now you're in a hell of a fire fight," said Todd Simmons, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Two homes have been destroyed, and the complex of fires in Butte County was about 55 percent contained.

At least 23 homes and 25 other structures have been destroyed in the Big Sur area, where flames have marched over more than 125 square miles of forest land since June 21.

Although that fire is far from controlled — the rugged terrain has kept containment at 18 percent into the fire's third week — authorities lifted the mandatory evacuation order issued for 25 miles of the 31-mile stretch along the Pacific Coast Highway that had been closed.

Many of the 1,500 evacuated residents of Big Sur headed home Tuesday morning through smoke and ash, anxious to gauge the damage.

The ferocious Basin Complex Fire burning through the Los Padres National Forest continued creeping closer to town Friday, after jumping a fire line and claiming more homes..

The Monterey County Sheriff's Office Thursday evening extended the mandatory evacuations along state Highway 1 in Big Sur due to the fire to include the area between Palo Colorado Canyon Road and the town of Lucia.

The evacuation order now includes both sides of the 39-mile section of Highway 1 and all connector roads, the sheriff's office said.

Locals who feared for their homes and businesses also had to worry about lost revenue during peak season.

"I'm sure the season is just toast," said Kurt Mayer, who ignored mandatory evacuation orders to defend his Big Sur Deli from the approaching fire. "Usually the busiest time is July and August, so I'm sure it's just going to be zero."

The stubborn blaze, which has now burned more than 64,305 acres, was just five percent contained Friday. Full containment was not expected until July 30, fire officials said.

The Basin Complex Fire, which started as two blazes that burned into one, ignited from dry lightning strikes.

At least 20 homes had been destroyed near Big Sur since the blaze broke out June 21. That toll was up Friday from 17 homes the day before.

About 20 businesses and nearly 1,780 residences remained threatened.

Crews near state Highway 1 fought back flames from homes and historic landmarks, including the upscale Ventana Inn which was surrounded by crackling, burning brush. Several homes perched on a ridge about a quarter-mile from the inn fell victim to the fire.

A volunteer fireman who had been fighting one of the fires in Mendocino County suffered respiratory difficulties and died at Ukiah Valley Medical Center this morning.

Dawn Emery Ballantine of the Anderson Valley Fire Department, said 63-year-old Robert Roland died at 4 a.m. today. She said his death is believed to be heart related.

Ballantine said Roland was on a fire in the Hungry Hollow area of Nash Mill Road when he felt ill. A Cal Fire spokeswoman said they were informed a firefighter experienced respiratory difficulties Wednesday and died at the hospital but she had no further information.

It will not be a happy Fourth of July weekend for the residents and businesses in Big Sur. A huge fire has been growing for nearly two weeks, intensifying on Tuesday and forcing a complete evacuation of Big Sur.

Posh retreats like the Ventana Inn and the Post Ranch Inn have also been evacuated.

So far, the Post Ranch Inn does not have an update on their website. The Ventana Inn however has issued an notice on their website:

    Relocation assistance was provided as needed and physical room to room search was performed to ensure all guests had evacuated.  The management has began contacting guests scheduled to arrive in the next few days to let them know Ventana Inn & Spa, Cielo Restaurant and Allegria Spa will remain closed until further notice.

Also we know that the Big Sur Lodge is closed and we imagine the Treebones Resort is as well.

If you're headed to Big Sur in the coming weeks and not staying at one of these hotels but another one in the area, we suggest giving them a call or checking their website to see exactly what their status is.

Monterey County emergency services spokesman Darby Marshall said evacuation notices were issued Wednesday morning for homes and businesses along a roughly 25-mile stretch on the eastern side of coastal Highway 1.

People along 15 miles of the stretch had been ordered out Tuesday.

Marshall says a mandatory evacuation order applies to 455 people, and 240 other residents are being urged to leave.

The lightning-sparked fire has destroyed 16 homes and charred more than 81 square miles — 52,000 acres — of forest.
Schwarzenegger and Federal Emergency Management Agency head David Paulison were going to Big Sur for a briefing on firefighting efforts a day after the governor ordered 200 guardsmen to report for fire training to help on the fire lines next week.

The move, expected to boost the nearly 19,000 personnel, marks the first time the National Guard has been called to ground-based firefighting duty since 1977.

"I think that they all are doing a great job, but the danger is that our firefighters get stretched thin," Schwarzenegger said. "A lot of them are working overtime, and they are staying up there for more than 12 hours, sometimes 24 hours, 36 hours. So we have to be very careful that they get enough sleep and they get enough rest."

Some 1,200 homes are threatened by the Big Sur fire, which has destroyed 17 homes while burning 74 square miles by Tuesday morning. It was just 3 percent contained and parts of it were just a few miles south of Big Sur.

Some 200 residents along an 18-mile stretch of Pacific Coast Highway 1 from Big Sur to the south are under a mandatory evacuation order starting at 5 p.m.

Firefighters have poured personnel and equipment into the area to ensure the fire does not reach the town of Big Sur, said John Ahlman, a Los Padres National Forest spokesman.

The surprising number of fires has forced firefighters to allocate their resources carefully: they focus on communities in the path of flames, allowing other blazes to chew through unpopulated forest land.

"It's like eating an elephant — you've got to eat it one bite at a time," said Jason Kirchner, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service. "We have to take a step back, figure out where the best place is to make a stand and sometimes wait for the fire to come to us in those situations."

This year is extraordinary for the number of active fires, Kirchner said. The weekend of June 21 had 1,200 fires — a number Forest Service officials said appeared to be an all-time record in California.

On Monday, the Forest Service put the figure at about 600, attributing the reduction to its tactic of attacking small fires first, and to significant assistance from other states and Canada.

However, state officials counted more than 1,000 ongoing blazes. The source of the discrepancy was apparently a different counting method.

Many of the current fires could take weeks, or months, to extinguish.

Long-running wildfires are not unusual in California. It was four months before firefighters controlled a blaze that blackened more than 240,000 acres of Santa Barbara County backcountry last year.

The Big Sur fire has burned about 13,100 hectares and destroyed 16 homes since it was sparked by lightning June 21, the U.S. Forest Service said.

Firefighters have contained only three per cent of the flames and the Forest Service could not estimate when the fire would be brought under control.
A 16-kilometre stretch of the coastal Highway 1 was closed for a fourth day, and the community of Big Sur remained threatened. Evacuation advisories were issued throughout the area, but the local chamber of commerce said most businesses were still open.

Wildfires - as of 9:00pm last night - Total Fires: 1,345 Acres Burned: 333,858 - State, local and federal firefighters continue to battle hundreds of wildfires throughout California. Fires are actively burning and continue to spread. Firefighters are prepared for the potential of new fires due to the predicted dry thunderstorm activity through the weekend, with reported numerous lightning downstrikes throughout Siskiyou County and Southern Oregon. The priority of firefighting is for the protection of life, property and natural resources.

 
Statistics:
Fires: 1,345
Acres: 333,858
Personnel Committed: 18,039
Resources Committed:
Engines: 1,356
Crews: 466
Dozers: 310
Water Tenders: 368
Helicopters: 92
 
Highway closures: State highways and local roads are closed throughout California due to wildfire activities. Closures and delays are in place for State Highways 1 (Big Sur Area), 32, 36, 70, 96, 151 and 299. Numerous county and local roads are closed as well. Travelers are advised to seek current information from local law enforcement.
 
Evacuations: Areas of Butte, Mariposa, Monterey, Shasta, and Tehama counties are under evacuation orders at this time. Precautionary evacuation orders are in place for areas in Butte, Mariposa, Mendocino and Shasta counties. Residents are advised to monitor the fire situation in their areas, check with local law enforcement agencies for information, and be prepared to evacuate when necessary.
 
Structures:
Threatened: 7,309 residences, 135 commercial, 2,796 outbuildings.
Destroyed: 28 residences, 1 commercial, 19 outbuildings.