The fire is just 5 percent contained after burning 12,780 acres, and mandatory evacuation orders are in place for a wide swath of the region as the fire burned up and over ridge after ridge, officials reported Wednesday.
Nearly 2,500 firefighters were assigned to the blaze, which was first reported just after 6:30 p.m. Saturday near the community of Pollock Pines east of Sacramento. So far, no structures have been reported damaged or destroyed, but as the fire spreads east, north and west, 1,632 homes and an additional 816 structures are threatened, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
Residents were being told to seek shelter at Camino Seventh-day Adventist Church, 3520 Carson Road, in Camino.
The fire has become one of the largest and most unruly of 11 major wildfires burning across California, mainly in the central and northern parts of the state.
Much smaller fires, however, have proved to be extremely destructive. At just 375 acres, the Boles fire has devastated the logging town of Weed just west of Mt. Shasta, damaging or destroying more than 150 structures that included important community institutions such as churches, the town sawmill and a library.
“It looks like a bomb went off,” said resident Angel Fisher, 41.
The fire, first reported Monday afternoon, was just 25 percent contained on Tuesday.
At about the same size, the Courtney fire in Madera County has also delivered a heavy blow to community of Oakhurst: More than 60 structures, most of them homes, have been lost, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Meanwhile, the largest of the state's current wildfires, the Happy Camp Complex, has burned 113,158 acres in Klamath National Forest and is 60 percent contained, according to the Forest Service. The complex is made up of 15 fires, which were initially sparked by lightning on Aug. 12.
©2014 the Los Angeles Times. Distributed by MCT Information Services.
