In this image taken with a slow shutter speed, embers light up a hillside behind the Bidwell Bar Bridge as the Bear Fire burns in Oroville, California, on Wednesday, September 9, 2020. The blaze, part of the lightning-sparked North Complex, expanded at a critical rate of spread as winds buffeted the region.
At least 3 people, including a 1-year-old child, have died, hundreds of home are threatened, a town is almost gone, in Northern California wildfire that spread upto 25 miles between Tuesday and Wednesday after winds (upto 45 km per hour) whipped it into a monster. The deadly flames incinerated houses in a small mountain community, several other people have been critically burned and hundreds, if not thousands, of homes and other buildings are believed to have been damaged or destroyed by the North Complex fire northeast of San Francisco, authorities said.
Over 20,000 people under evacuation
Some 20,000 people were under evacuation orders or warnings in Plumas, Yuba and Butte counties. Between Tuesday and Wednesday, the fire — which had been burning for weeks in forestland and was 50 per cent contained — exploded to 6 times its size as winds gusting to 45 mph drove a path of destruction through mountainous terrain and parched foothills.
Vehicles are driven downhill on Highway 168 as the Creek Fire advances Tuesday, September 8, 2020, near Alder Springs, California.
The winds subsided Wednesday but the fire was only 24 per cent contained and the danger remained.
"Time and time again we have seen how dangerous wildfires can be. ... So I ask that you please, please please be prepared, maintain situational awareness and heed the warnings," Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea pleaded.
Flames lick above vehicles on Highway 162 as the Bear Fire burns in Oroville, California, on Wednesday, September. 9, 2020. The blaze, part of the lightning-sparked North Complex, expanded at a critical rate of spread as winds buffeted the region.
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Honea announced the three deaths but declined to provide details. California Highway Patrol Officer Ben Draper told the Bay Area News Group that one person was found in a car and apparently had been trying to escape the flames.
A firetruck drives along state Highway 168 while battling the Creek Fire in the Shaver Lake community of Fresno County, California. A weekend wildfire east of Fresno exploded so fast that it trapped hundreds of holiday campers who were airlifted to safety in a dramatic rescue that strained the limits of two California National Guard helicopters.
Many homes incinerated
Many homes were incinerated in the Butte County hamlet of Berry Creek, with a population of 525 people. John Sykes, a 50-year resident, managed to flee on Tuesday with his car and some clothes but he watched the town burn from about a mile away.
"The school is gone, the fire department’s gone, the bar’s gone, the laundromat’s gone, the general store’s gone," he told the Sacramento Bee, adding, “I’ll never go back." “I don’t want to see it,” he said. “That’s why I’m leaving. I never want to see California again."
A plume rises from the Bear Fire as it burns along Lake Oroville on Wednesday, September 9, in Butte County, California.
Four burn victims were taken to UC Davis Medical Center in critical condition, the Bee reported.
The fire also threatened Paradise, a town devastated just two years ago by the deadliest blaze in state history that prompted a deadly traffic jam as panicked residents tried to escape. Eighty-five people lost their lives and nearly 19,000 buildings were destroyed in that fire.
This Saturday, September 5, 2020, provided by the California National Guard shows the view from a Cal Guard Chinook helicopter rescuing people trapped after the Creek Fire in central California left them stranded. A weekend wildfire east of Fresno exploded so fast that it trapped hundreds of holiday campers who were airlifted to safety in a dramatic rescue that strained the limits of two California National Guard helicopters.
On Wednesday, the sky turned from black to cherry red and ash carried on strong winds rained down in a scene reminiscent from the fateful morning of Nov. 8, 2018, former Mayor Steve “Woody” Culleton said.
Seen from the Forbestown community in Butte County, California, a plume rises from the Bear Fire as it approaches Oroville on Tuesday, September 8, 2020. The blaze, part of the lightning-sparked North Complex, expanded at a critical rate of spread as winds buffeted the region.
(With inputs from AP)
