Thousands of firefighters battling massive wildfires in western U.S.
YOLO COUNTY, Calif. -- Across the West, firefighters are battling dozens of wildfires, and one of the biggest is in Yolo County, California.
On Wednesday, firefighting helicopters flew into thick smoke to fight a fire that's burned more than 80,000 acres in three rural counties west of Sacramento. Nearly 3,000 firefighters have been working around the clock, lighting backfires and building a containment line, in an effort to keep the flames at bay.
The wildfire is also threatening more than 1,000 homes and buildings, and hundreds of residents were told to evacuate.
"It's a little nerve-racking because grass fires move so fast," said Steve Black, one property owner.
The fear now is that the fire could overtake a mountain highway that's used by travelers heading to Lake Berryessa, a popular holiday destination. Intense smoke has already snuffed out Fourth of July celebrations there.
Drones take the bang out of the Fourth of July in communities ravaged by wildfires.
Wildfires also continue to rage in Colorado, where the Spring Fire alone has devoured an area larger than the size of Detroit, leaving 100 homes destroyed.
In Utah, ofhttps://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/thousands-of-firefighters-battling-massive-wildfires-in-western-us/ar-AAzAT03?li=BBnb7Kzficials ordered more residents to leave, as firefighters struggled to contain fast-moving flames east of Salt Lake City.
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I live on the other side of Lake Berryessa, where the fire is. Scary.
Last year we were evacuated from our house for 8 days. My 75 year old mother, her dog and cat, my dog and cat, at 1:30 in the morning.
Now, mom has her precious items packed near the front door ready to go!
But I don't think it is a threat at this time, and those heroic firefighters have been working hard. They did a 2-3 mile controlled backfire burn, and so far it hasn't crossed the dam. If it crosses hwy 128 into the next mountainous area, well, that will change everything and I'll start packing myself!
Lessons learned last time. I did get moms medicines and we got our pets, but no pet food, no change of clothing.
Below is a link to a picture taken from last years fire, the night we were evacuated. It is taken from across the ridge, looking at our neighborhood. The fact that it didn't burn our house down is a miracle! We had no idea it was so huge, we couldn't see what is behind the ridge behind our house. The police were insistent that we leave immediately, and we did. I think it might be better that we didn't see the 200 ft wall of fire looming over us. I didn't see this photo until about 3 weeks after the fire. Really freaked me out when I did. I knew it was bad, but I didn't know it was that huge, and that close.
(One of those little blueish lights across the way is my house)