Residents say California wildfire spread fast

An approaching storm lowered temperatures in northern California from triple digits to the 60s and 70s on Monday, giving a respite to crews which have spent five days fighting the ravenous, 60,000-acre Rocky fire in near record heat.

He said more than 9,000 firefighters, many of them reinforcements from out of state, were on the lines in California.

Nighttime typically allows firefighters to make headway against wildfires because humidity will go up and fire activity will die down, but that hasn’t been the case with the Rocky Fire, Berlant said. The recently snuffed-out Lake Fire in San Bernardino County burned more than 31,000 acres before it was contained.

Authorities have required or urged 13,000 people to leave some 5,500 homes.

“There’s a lot of old growth-type vegetation and four years of drought to dry it all out”, said Lynne Tolmachoff, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The fire grew “dramatically” over the weekend, more than doubling in size just on Sunday alone.

“We try to prepare them for the unexpected”, said Rich Schenk, an officer with the DEEP Eastern Connecticut Fire Control. Now, the fire is still just 12 percent contained after burning 62,000 acres and destroying 24 homes.

California officials have ordered 12,000 people to evacuate their homes.

Crews battled 20 other wildfires in California – some sparked by lightning – though none as big as the Lower Lake blaze.

“This is probably one of the most complicated years that we’ve had weather-wise, in terms of making predictions about fires“, Keeley said.

Twenty Connecticut firefighters are headed to Northern California to help fight wild fires. One firefighter was killed at the scene of a fire at the Modoc National Forest, 100 miles south of the Oregon border, and four other were burned in a blaze near Sacramento. Through the said grant, the different federal, state and other agencies helping to dissolve the fires may be assisted to file for reimbursement of approved fire-abolition expenses.

Fire officials in the West said what used to be a season has turned into a year-round battle.

California is suffering its worst drought in modern history, and this summer’s drough conditions are the fourth in a row that the state has experienced.

Connecticut maintains this capability to participate in a reciprocal aid program is made possible by the U.S. Forest Service.

But, he warned there is no sign the dry, hot and windy conditions will improve, and said the coming months could see more fires. As the fire burns north, there’s a huge assault in the air and on the ground to stop it. Backfires are being set to head off the heart of the blaze and keep it away from a highway.