New Wildfires Force Evacuations in Arizona, California

weather.com
Published: June 29,2016

Two new wildfires have forced evacuations in two states and closed an interstate highway in Arizona.
The Yavapai County Sheriffs Office has called for mandatory evacuations for portions of Cordes Lakes, Arizona as the Bug Creek Fire burns west of town. The Fire, which started late Tuesday morning, has consumed 1,000 acres and forced the closure of Interstate 17, the southbound lanes of which remain closed.
In California, the Trailhead Fire burning some 50 miles northeast of Sacramento has already put hundreds of structures in danger.
The inferno, which began Tuesday morning, had claimed 300 acres of land through Wednedsay morning, according to fire officials. There was little, if any, containment on the fire that was burning in El Dorado and Placer counties.
Because of the fire, about 100 Placer County homes were evacuated on Tuesday, according to KCRA.com.
"This fire wasn’t immediately threatening the homes," Cal Fire spokesperson Daniel Berlant told KCRA.com. "But, because this community is a one way in, one way out, we want to make sure the residents, especially on the southern end of this subdivision, are evacuated."
(MORE: Aquifers Discovered Under California's Drought-Stricken Central Valley)
Here's the latest on other fires burning in the West.

Erskine Fire

Residents of more than half a dozen communities in Kern County are being allowed to return to their homes after evacuating ahead of the Erskine fire, though some areas still do not have power or water. The blaze was 60 percent contained late Tuesday night.
The fire consumed at least 250 structures, including Sallie Keeling's South Lake home where she and her husband had lived for 13 years. Two people have been killed in the Erskine fire, which has consumed around more than 46,000 acres near Lake Isabella. According to Fox 11, the deceased were an older couple living in Lake Isabella, one of nearly a dozen communities that were forced to evacuate due to the blaze. They were overcome by smoke as they tried to flee.
"There's nothing," she said, covered in soot after digging through the rubble. "Just ashes."
(MORE: Erskine Fire Seen From Space)

The brown- and orange-shaded areas in this satellite image from June 24, 2016 show the burn area from the Erskine Fire just south of Lake Isabella.
(NASA)

More homes are expected to burn as the blaze that has left two dead continues to devour areas of rural communities in the southern Sierra Nevada. Houses could be vulnerable if winds blow the fire back toward some of the communities in the popular recreation area, Fire Chief Brian Marshall said.
"There's still more threats out there," Marshall said. "This is going to go down as the most destructive wildfire in Kern County history."
Hillside homes along dirt roads were consumed by heavy flames in Squirrel Mountain Valley, a community of about 500 people. Smoky haze could be seen for miles around, and orange flames lit the evening air as planes and helicopters dropped water and retardant.
Many of the houses in the area have propane tanks that added to the danger, and some residents were refusing to evacuate, Townsend said.

San Gabriel Complex

Improved weather in the aftermath of a severe heat wave allowed firefighters to make progress against two fires in the steep San Gabriel Mountains 20 miles northeast of Los Angeles. Some evacuations below in the foothill city of Duarte were lifted.
A fleet of helicopters and air tankers and other resources are helping fight the fires totaling nearly 5,400 acres. As of Monday morning, both fires were around 72 percent contained.

"It's very hard for the firefighters to engage the fire safely, but they are out there doing so," incident commander Mike Wakoski said. "It's in a real inaccessible area."
Some of the residents who live in the Las Lomas area of the city of Duarte were able return to their homes, but all other evacuations remain in effect.
No homes have been lost, though flames have come close at times. More than 850 homes were ordered evacuated last week, and 534 were cleared for residents' return last Wednesday.

More Fires Around the West

Elsewhere in the West, a forest fire near the Colorado-Wyoming line exploded in size and forced campers to evacuate.
By Tuesday night, the inferno had grown to more than 9,000 acres, with just 5 percent of the fire contained. Trees killed by a beetle infestation were fueling the flames 140 miles north of Denver and 2 miles from Wyoming.
No more than 100 campers and people staying in cabins fled, Routt National Forest spokesman Aaron Voos said. Nearly 500 firefighters were battling the blaze, but getting more help was difficult because of the other Western wildfires.
On Saturday, officials told the Associated Press that 40 residences or cabins remain at risk and only a few structures have burned so far.
In southwest Utah, the Saddle fire forced evacuations of at least 185 homes in the town of Pine Valley, about 35 miles north of the city of St. George. As of Tuesday night, the blaze had claimed 1,470 acres.
Firefighters established a perimeter around a portion of the fire on Saturday, which is now 8 percent contained, according to the AP. Crews say about 5,000 properties remain threatened and the Washington County Sheriff's Office is asking homeowners to voluntarily evacuate.
In central New Mexico, crews said that a 27-square mile fire in the Manzano Mountains is 91 percent contained as of Tuesday night. A county assessor has determined that a dozen homes and 44 minor structures have been damaged. The human-caused fire began June 14.