A fast-moving wildfire in Northern California's Siskiyou County has burned nearly 1,000 acres and destroyed multiple buildings as a heat wave across the state heightened fire dangers.
Suzi Brady, spokesperson with Cal Fire Siskiyou, confirmed the structure losses but was unable to provide details on the number and type of buildings. Flames were seen tearing through buildings, including homes, along Highway 97, according to footage from firefighters, obtained by KRCR, a local TV news station.
The Mill fire has also forced evacuations in Shastina and Edgewood, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Students at Weed High School were evacuated via buses to Mount Shasta High School.
An evacuation shelter has been set up at the Kahtishraam Wellness Center in Yreka. Large animals are being sent to the Siskiyou County Fairgrounds in Yreka.
“We’re doing the exact same thing we did two weeks ago,” said Cliff Munson, who heads the fairgrounds, referring to the McKinney fire in July, which scorched more than 60,000 acres, killed two people and destroyed 132 structures.
Siskiyou County residents, still reeling from that fire, have sued PacifiCorp, a utility serving the area, alleging that sparks from its high-voltage transmission lines and other equipment ignited the blaze.
As residents and workers left parts of Weed, which has a population of about 2,600, most of the city was without power; Pacific Power, the utility company there, reported an outage around 1:30 p.m. affecting 7,625 homes and businesses.
Flames appeared to be hollowing out a large commercial structure near the mill in the north part of the city, according to images on social media. The mill is adjacent to rows of single-family homes.
“We’re closing up the building and trying to get out of the way,” said a social services worker at the Shasta View Nursing Center, just hundreds of feet from where the fire was burning. She and other staff had evacuated 25 long-term residents and rehabilitation patients.
The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning Friday for the Northern California area near Mount Shasta where the blaze is burning, due to the hot, dry conditions. Temperatures were hovering at 94 degrees, with gusty winds of up to 35 mph.
In 2014, the Boles fire swept through Weed, burning more than 500 acres and destroying 150 homes and other structures. Machinery at the mill, which processes materials for plywood, was also destroyed.
