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A creek fire in central California, northeast of Fresno, has so far devoured 32,000 acres. In the area is the Huntington Lake community, with a few hundred houses, mostly cabins.
Chris Donnelly is the fire chief for the community volunteer fire brigade.
– The fire is very severe. We are on the eastern front, he says.
Many point fires
He and his volunteer firefighters battled the flames over the weekend.
– They have fought heroically and we think we had achieved it. But today (Monday) has been a bad day. We have many point fires, and the fire is so big and there are not enough resources available, he says.
The approximately 650 homes have been evacuated from Huntington Lake and nearby communities, and according to Donnelly, it’s difficult to know if any of the homes remain. Volunteer firefighters have also been called in.
TT: Have you experienced something like this?
– No, and to give an image, a cloud formed that rose at least 15,000 meters to the stratosphere, where a storm with many lightning bolts was formed. It was completely black on the lake. The flames the people fought against were 18 meters high. It makes one humble, says Chris Donnelly.
The fire is completely out of control and continues to grow due to windy weather and high temperatures, according to state fire authority Calfire. In the forest, many of the trees are dead as a result of the bark borer infestation, which means there is a lot of flammable fuel.
Celebration sparked fire
In San Bernardino, southeast of Los Angeles, a fire caused by a pyrotechnic smoke device used at a party to reveal the sex of an unborn child is causing havoc, according to the fire department.
East of San Diego in Southern California, a national park is on fire, with nearly 400 firefighters fighting a 4,000-acre blaze.
On Sunday, State Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in Fresno, Madera, Mariposa, San Bernardino and San Diego as a result of the fires.
