'Californians in danger'

2008-07-11 07:35

Oroville - Firefighters worked to keep flames from reaching more homes after a lightning-sparked wildfire advanced on Thursday in the Sierra Nevada foothills of California.

The wildfire in Butte County destroyed at least 50 homes earlier in the week, mostly in Concow, and has sent as many as 10 000 residents fleeing. It continued burning through brush and trees, but no other homes were reported lost overnight, officials said on Thursday.

Firefighters made their stand along the Feather River on the banks opposite of the city of Paradise, which is at risk if the winds shift and the blaze jumps the river.

The fire threatens nearly 4 000 homes in Paradise, where last month a separate wildfire destroyed 74 homes.

Firefighters also dealt with hot, dry weather that was expected to continue through the weekend. At least six firefighters were treated for heat exhaustion on Wednesday, said Mike Mohler, a state fire department spokesperson.

"We have low humidity, high temps and then the wind, so the conditions are still red flag," Mohler said. "If the weather co-operates, we have a good chance."

The blaze is part of a complex of about 40 lightning-sparked wildfires that over the past two weeks have charred 20 000 hectares - or more than 197 square kilometres - in and around Butte County. By Thursday, there were about 15 active fires.

Across the state, fire crews have strained to cover hundreds of wildfires that have burned nearly 2 850 square kilometres and destroyed nearly 100 homes since a lightning storm ignited most of them more than two weeks ago. Some 1 460 fires had been contained, but more than 320 were still active on Thursday, authorities said.

Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger's office said on Thursday that the governor sent a letter to President George W Bush asking to send more firefighters to help build fire lines and train National Guard troops deployed to assist firefighting efforts.

"California is in the midst of battling unprecedented wildfires that have stretched our state's firefighting resources to their limit and placed thousands of Californians in immediate danger," Schwarzenegger said in the letter.

- AP