One Dead in New Wildfire in California

The Tassajara Fire started around 3:00pm Saturday about the same time as a second fire known as the Laureles Fire, which started around 3:30pm off of Highway 68 near Laureles Grade.

Brush and oak trees flare up as firefighters work to contain a… He was outside watering down the property as the fire burned nearby.

A plane drops fire retardant on a fire along Highway 68 east of…

A new wildfire in California has claimed one life, and firefighters continued to battle two other devastating blazes that have destroyed more than 1,400 homes. CalFire says the person who died was a civilian, not a firefighter.

Cal Fire adds 10 homes have been damaged or destroyed.

Damage assessment teams have counted 888 homes burned in Lake County, many of them in the town of Middletown, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Daniel Berlant said. CAL FIRE and Riverside County firefighter aided in the firefight.

Fires burning in the Sierra Nevada foothills have destroyed approximately 535 homes and led to the deaths of two people. That blaze was 70 per cent contained Sunday but continued to threaten thousands of structures.

One person was killed Sunday in the Tassajara fire burning in Carmel Valley, fire officials said. California has been hit hard with wildfires this season; Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in Napa and Lake counties this month.

“A heard an ambulance and then I saw the coloration of the sun change because of the smoke”, he said. “I’m just feeling deep gratitude and thinking of everyone who risked their lives to save them”. The blaze began Saturday afternoon and has destroyed 10 structures, officials said.

Danielson and others from the area gathered on Carmel Valley Road at Tassajara Road, where Cal Fire set up a makeshift command center and residents watched, waited and hoped for the best. About 19,000 people were ordered to evacuate.