King Fire damage report: 12 homes, 56 structures
By Evan Sernoffsky San Francisco Chronicle
September 24, 2014 | Updated: September 24, 2014 7:31pm
Twelve homes and 56 other structures have been destroyed by the fire that was allegedly sparked by an arsonist on Sept. 13 in the Sierra foothill town of Pollock Pines (El Dorado County) along Highway 50 east of Placerville, said the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
"It's a very rural area with long driveways," said Cal Fire Battalion Chief Scott McLean after an assessment of the damage. "It's a matter of searching out these areas. It's difficult. You have to take some time and research."
The fire, fueled by parched, dense brush and trees, quickly swelled through the canyon around the South Fork of the American River before tearing north through the remote Eldorado National Forest into the Tahoe National Forest.
The boot-shaped burn area was 38 percent contained as of Wednesday afternoon.
Smoke from the blaze was drifting over the Lake Tahoe region and well into Nevada, causing officials to issue air-quality advisories and prompting organizers to cancel a number of events.
At Squaw Valley, the annual Oktoberfest, scheduled for Saturday, was smoked out by the fire. Another annual event, the Castle Peak 100k Endurance Run, will also have to wait for next year.
A cool weather system moving through the Bay Area is expected to reach the fire area Thursday and will probably help firefighters by increasing humidity, cloud cover and moisture.
McLean said Thursday's weather will make for "a much better situation, but with that low comes erratic winds and erratic fire behavior. As it comes in, we have to be aware of it."
Cal Fire did not estimate when the blaze might be completely under control, citing changing weather, steep and remote terrain and a parched landscape dried out from three years of little rainfall.
The alleged arsonist, 37-year-old Wayne Allen Huntsman, pleaded not guilty to one count of felony arson.
Read my blog at http://eclecticarcania.blogspot.com/
My Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/derkimster
Linkedin profile: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/kim-noyes/9/3a1/2b8
Follow me on Twitter @CalDisasters
__._,_.___
No comments:
Post a Comment