Residents run for safety as wildfire explodes
By Corina Knoll and Bettina Boxall, Los Angeles Times
Fueled by heat and winds, a wildfire exploded Saturday afternoon to 10,000 acres in Lake County, threatening several communities and leaving four firefighters with second-degree burns.
The Valley Fire spread so quickly that residents in Cobb and surrounding communities had little time to flee. Photos on social media showed towering flames descending on towns and jammed highways.
Evacuees crowded roads in the area, with firefighters warning that more than 1,000 structures were threatened. There were reports Saturday night that some homes were lost and that people were trapped awaiting rescue.
The state was calling in hundreds of firefighters from around California to battle the blaze, which was hopscotching across oak woodlands and grasslands, driven by 20 to 30 mph winds.
Across Amador and Calaveras counties, nearly 4,000 fire personnel battled the Butte fire that began southeast of Sacramento and has plowed through 65,000 acres. Swift and stubborn, it started Wednesday, doubled in size the following night, then doubled again the next day — prompting Gov. Jerry Brown to declare a state of emergency.