Lawyer Complex Fire: Structures lost, property damaged, Kamiah evacuated

Locals were allowed in.

That blaze forced about 360 people to be evacuated from a camping area in the year-round Lutheran retreat of Holden Village, where the fire remains active, fire officials said. These areas include Pine Ridge and Bethman Addition. “There are challenges getting immediate assessments due to the inaccessibility caused by burned wooden creosote bridges and hazards from burned trees”, the fire marshal’s office said in a statement.

The Fisher Fire, burning seven miles north of Craigmont in a steep area of Big Canyon, was started by lightning on Wednesday.

Over the last two weeks, more than 100 firefighters from Marin fire departments left the county to fight the blazes sweeping throughout Northern California.

A heat wave wasn’t helping – with a high pressure system sending temperatures close to 100 degrees in some parts of the state, fire officials expect a greater risk of wildfires through the weekend. That includes the home of a senior trooper with the Oregon State Police, who remained on duty. Evacuations were advised for the Black Canyon and Squaw Creek area Friday afternoon by Okanogan County Emergency Management. Five structures have burned down. The Cedar Fire in San Diego County in 2003 burned 273,000 acres and destroyed 2,820 structures – and it was only the worst of several destructive fires that year.

Earlier this week, the National Weather Service predicted dry lightning storms across the Bay Area, including Marin. Flames and smoke were visible from downtown. Residents in Boise, Idaho, have been told to prepare for evacuation at any time, The Guardian reported.

California’s fire season is well under way with 14 different blazes, driven by an ongoing drought, burning across the state. Its rapid growth led to the evacuation of a dozen nearby cabins, most of which are second homes.

Wildfires racing through drought-stricken Southern California have burned at least 130 acres of land and one cabin.

Because of the fire’s severity, Gov. Kate Brown declared it a “conflagration”, which enables more agencies to respond.

Firefighters contained the flames several hours later.

Firefighters were mopping up a 189-acre fire that erupted Friday in Simi Valley, northwest of Los Angeles.

Mountain-town dwellers who had to evacuate – some for the second time in days – were breathing a bit easier as firefighters took major steps toward controlling the latest wildfire in Lake County.

The wildfire in Napa and Lake counties is burning near the 69,000-acre Rocky Fire, now 99 percent contained, according to CalFire. It is more than halfway contained.

So far 30 homes and 75 outbuildings have been destroyed by the the Lawyer Complex Fire.

The US Forest Service is spending about $100m a week fighting wildfires and will exhaust its firefighting budget next week, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said on Friday.