Monday, September 5, 2022
A pair of wildfires burned relentlessly through Siskiyou County Saturday, with one destroying much of a historically Black neighborhood in the city of Weed and the other chewing through heavy timberland to the west.
Two people have died in a blaze that ripped through a Northern California town, Siskiyou County Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue confirmed. He did not immediately provide names or other details including age or gender of the two people who died.
The Mill Fire, which prompted the evacuation of Weed and smaller communities to the north, had grown to 4,254 acres with 25% containment by Saturday evening, Cal Fire said.
About 1,000 people were still under evacuation orders Sunday as firefighters worked to contain the blaze that had sparked out of control Friday at the start of the holiday weekend.
Cal Fire Siskiyou Unit Chief Phil Anzo gave the a news agency the same estimate, adding that crews worked all day and night to protect structures in Weed and in Carrick, a subdivision to the east.
The winds make Weed and the surrounding area a perilous place for wildfires, whipping small flames into a frenzy.
Weed has seen three major fires since 2014, a period of extreme drought that has prompted the largest and most destructive fires in California history.
Crews battled flames while much of the state baked in a Labor Day weekend heat wave, with temperatures expected to top 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) in Los Angeles, exceptionally warm weather for Southern California.
Temperatures were expected to be even hotter through the Central Valley up to the capital of Sacramento.
Mountain fire burning in rugged terrain
Meanwhile, the Mountain Fire had grown to 4,812 acres in a wooded, mountainous area west of Yreka late Saturday, according to Cal Fire.
In the town of Gazelle, Colleen Brown and her husband, Steve, had a long Friday night.
She said they watched “dozer after dozer after dozer” hauled behind big rigs head up the hill toward the Mountain Fire, burning on the hills west of town. They could see trees catching fire on the hillside.
Tags: Cal Fire, Mill Fire, Siskiyou County
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