Officials said Wednesday that because of a wildfire in Northern California, more than 28,000 people have been told to leave their homes.
It began in Oroville, which is about 65 miles north of Sacramento, on Tuesday morning. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, said it had grown to 3,568 acres by Wednesday afternoon and could not be contained. The cause is being looked into.
Rachael Thompson, 41, lives in Oroville and is right outside the evacuation lines. She shared videos on Facebook of the fires engulfing nearby land.
He told NBC News on Wednesday, “We have four air purifiers running.” “It’s still very smokey, but not as bad as last night.” It was too tight.”
Butte County fire spokeswoman Rick Carhart said the fires have destroyed at least four buildings, put 12,000 others at risk, and are affecting many power lines. The fire has been fought by almost 1,500 people, including 18 workers from the San Francisco Fire Department.
Carhart said that there have been no reports of civilian injuries. Four firemen did get minor injuries from the heat, though.
Oroville has been through many destructive fires, including the Camp Fire in 2018 that killed 85 people and forced about 50,000 others to leave their homes.
A house next door to Thompson’s was destroyed by the 2020 Bear Fire.
“It’s a habit now because we’ve been through it so many times.” Thompson said, “We already know what we need to do and we need to stay alert.”
Thompson used a scanner app on her phone to listen to police as they chose to evacuate the area where her twin sister Crystal Kehle lived. By the time the official evacuation order came out, Kehle had already packed up and left for her sister’s house with her husband and father-in-law. Two shelters have also been set up by Butte County.
When California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for Butte County, he said, “California is using every available tool to fight this fire and will continue to support communities that have been affected.”
The government Emergency Management Agency said in a statement on Wednesday that it had approved government funds to help California put out the fire on Tuesday night.
A fire chief at Cal Fire’s Butte County Fire Station named Dan Collins said Thompson wasn’t as dangerous as other deadly fires the county had seen. Collins said he was “very optimistic” that Thompson would not spread because Cal Fire had sent more tools and people to the front lines to help with the incident management team.
“It helps us as the local fire department because it’s tough for us to support a large incident like this,” he said.
This is one of 17 fires that are still burning in the state. This comes as a dangerous heat wave hits the West before the long Fourth of July weekend. Holiday plans have already been ruined by the heat and the risk of wildfires. For example, California State Parks has canceled the fireworks show in Oroville. The plans for Independence Day in the cities of St. Helena and Antioch have also been canceled.
Thompson said that her family had turned down their plans for the Fourth of July as well.
“We called our family to say that it’s just too heavy right now.” She said, “We’re not going to party.”
More than 139,500 acres have been burned by 2,934 wildfires in California so far this year.
