WEED, Calif. — A hot drizzle fell over the Weed Community Center on Monday, where nearly all of the 157 cots assembled by the American Red Cross had been occupied by evacuees from the McKinney fire the night before.
Dozens of people milled about, some anxious and others bored, as the blaze raged in the nearby Klamath National Forest. Many feared the worst, but for Harlene Schwander, 81, it had already happened: Her house, located along Highway 96, has been leveled by the fire.
"If I had known, I would have gotten more," Schwander said. "I would have taken my sunglasses! I wasn't thinking."
