SACRAMENTO - More than a dozen wildfires across Northern California prompted Gov. Jerry Brown to issue a state of emergency over the weekend. The declaration secures firefighting cost reimbursement for local and state agencies responding to the fires.
Blazing temperatures and extreme drought conditions have wreaked havoc as crews battle more than a dozen wildfires in California and Oregon.
The wildfires have scorched more than 32 square miles across the two states and hundreds of buildings are still at risk.
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Brown secured a federal grant on Saturday to cover 75% of the cost to fight a wildfire that started in Oregon and crossed into California.
Three of California's fires were caused by lightning. The blazes have led to evacuations for at least four towns.
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As a number of wildfires continue to devour thousands of acres in the northern region of the state, firefighters are getting assistance from the Air National Guard's 146th Airlift Wing.
Two C-130J military aircraft landed at McClellan Airfield on Saturday. CalFire and the Governor's Office of Emergency Services requested the aerial assistance.
'This particular airplane drops between 3,000 gallons of retardant and the airplane is also used for every other air force mission that can be imagined,' said 146th Airlift Wing pilot Lt. Col. Bill Willson.
Ground crews continued to work on the Day Fire burning in Modoc County. It has burned nearly 19 square miles and threatens about 200 structures. Aerial assistance has slowed the fire's progression. The fire is 25% contained.
'We put two loads of retardant on it,' Wilson said. 'It's currently burning to the southeast and we protected a town to the north.'
Several strike teams from the area are joining the fight against the Day Fire, which began Wednesday.
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'It's essentially a predictable fire season today,' Wilson said. 'But tomorrow, that may change very rapidly, so mother nature has a tendency to have her own design on how she wants to start fires, and most of these fires were started by lightning strikes.'
Meanwhile, another fire in the area that nearly quadrupled in size over the weekend has destroyed eight homes and prompted the precautionary evacuation of a small long-term care hospital, authorities said.
U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Linda Tiffin said the fire burning in and around Lassen National Forest near the town of Burney had torched 36 square miles as of Sunday morning, up from 11 square miles a day earlier. The fire known as the Eiler Fire, started Thursday and was not contained at all Sunday afternoon.
Officials at Mayer Memorial Hospital said they were evacuating their 49-bed annex in Burney and moving patients to a hospital in Redding, in case the flames get closer.
Residents of three small neighboring communities already have been ordered to evacuate.
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Posted by Unknown on Sunday, August 3, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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