California wildfires destroy homes; winds hamper containment
Source: AP
By ETHAN SWOPE and JOHN ANTCZAK
PLACERVILLE, Calif. (AP) — Dry and windy weather dogged firefighters’ efforts to contain destructive fires that are devouring the bone-dry forests of drought-stricken Northern California on Thursday.
An estimated 11,000 firefighters were on the lines of more than a dozen large wildfires that have destroyed hundreds of homes and other buildings, forced thousands of people to flee communities and filled skies with smoke.
The U.S. Forest Service announced that it will close nine national forests in the region beginning on Aug. 22 and running through Sept. 6 because of extreme fire conditions and because firefighting resources have been stretched thin by the sheer number of blazes burning around the country.
The monstrous Dixie Fire, burning since July 13 in the northern Sierra Nevada and southern Cascades, ballooned further to about 1,060 square miles (2,745 square kilometers) and was only 35% contained, authorities said.
Central Calaveras firefighter Ryan Carpenter extinguishes flames from the Caldor Fire on Hazel Valley Road east of Riverton, Calif., on Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/fires-environment-and-nature-california-wildfires-6d9abfc2d7d45e2c9c0d8babc1858dc3
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Hoping for good luck. 