WEED, Calif. — Fueled by gusty winds and sweltering temperatures, the fast-moving Mill Fire provided an ominous beginning to a brutally hot Labor Day weekend in Northern California, as it tore through Siskiyou County neighborhoods, claiming dozens of homes, causing multiple injuries, and sending thousands of residents fleeing for their lives.
The disastrous inferno — suspected of starting around a local wood-manufacturing plant in Weed on Friday — jumped to 3,921 acres with just 20% containment by Saturday, puncturing a relatively quiet wildfire season with some of the year’s most frightening conflagrations.
By Saturday afternoon, the immediate threat appeared to have subsided somewhat as some evacuation orders were downgraded to warnings and nearly 4,000 firefighters walled off the fast-moving blaze from wreaking further destruction.
