California Wildfires Wreak Havoc, Force Thousands to Evacuate

The Butte Fire started Wednesday, has burned more than 64,000 acres and is 10 percent contained, according to Cal Fire. Several residents in Middletown say they also have no running water.

Mike Lopez, the president of CAL FIRE, talked to Good Morning America on Sunday and was asked whether exhaustion was a factor amid a long exhausting season for firefighters. Butte Fire To the east, firefighters battled a blaze about 70 miles southeast of Sacramento that exploded to over 65,000 acres in four days, turning the grassy, tree-studded Sierra Nevada foothills an eerie white. There’s many homes threatened….

He said more than 275 homes and other buildings had been destroyed and the Red Cross is opening emergency shelters for evacuated residents.

Four firefighters who were part of a helicopter crew were injured Saturday.

California governor Jerry Brown, whose state has been battling several wildfires in recent months, declared a state of emergency in areas hit by the blaze, dubbed the Valley Fire.

Firefighters approach a structure after a wildfire broke out near the town of Cobb in Lake County in Northern California on Saturday.

Resources to fight California’s wild fires were stretched thin Sunday, especially by two blazes in the middle of the state that have resulted in widespread destruction.

Because of the fire emergency, Calistoga officials scrambled to redesign the planned Harvest Table dinner, a scheduled dining event in the middle of Lincoln Avenue on Sunday evening.

The explosive growth of the Valley Fire forced authorities to order mandatory evacuations of a number of communities, including all of Hidden Valley Lake which has about 5,500 people, according to a Lake County Sheriff’s Office statement.

One woman told CBS News in Lake County, CA that she’s heard that her brothers house had burned and she had heard that “a lot of buildings are gone, school is gone, store’s gone, and a lot of people have dogs stuck up there”.

George Escalona said his home has burned and he’s left with nothing but the clothes he was wearing when he fled. As of Sunday morning, the fire was burning largely unchecked, with officials reporting zero percent containment despite their efforts. There are dozens of Sequoia groves in the Sierra Nevada, and some trees are 3,000 years old.