Evacuations continue; Winds push the erratic fire toward Del Rio
Those three homes were destroyed. Other structures sustained damage. As of about 7 p.m., 50 to 100 acres had been torched.
A homeowner suffered burns in the fire. She lives on McHenry Avenue, but left the house before an ambulance had time to arrive. She may be receiving medical attention on her own, crews said.
Officials from the Red Cross and Cal Fire got to the scene before 6 p.m.
The wind-driven fire started in San Joaquin County -- near McHenry Avenue and East River Road, just north of the river in Escalon -- and spread quickly.
About 100 residents in the area of Hogue Road and McHenry Avenue were evacuated from their homes, said Randall Bradley, the fire chief of the Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Department.
Evacuations were mandatory Thursday evening on Hogue Road. No evacuation center had been set up yet.
As of just after 5 p.m., officials said nine houses on the Stanislaus-San Joaquin County line remained threatened. At least 12 are evacuated.
Fueled by heavy vegetation on the river bottom and both sides of the water, the blaze reached the Del Rio area. The fire is still listed at zero percent containment.
This is an area full of farms and farmland.
Smoke was visible from about 20 miles away, LiveCopter3 pilot Dave Allen said. At last check, that smoke was headed toward Riverbank.
Winds in the area -- out of the west-northwest -- picked up to about 15 to 18 mph, KCRA 3 chief meteorologist Mark Finan said.
"Please avoid McHenry Avenue at Patterson Road in North Modesto," the Stanislaus County sheriff said on Twitter. "It has been closed for a fire. We will keep you updated."
McHenry will be closed well into the evening as firefighters continue battling smoke and flames.
Officials are directing traffic away from the area.
At one point, deputies were looking for two rafters on the Stanislaus River, west of McHenry. They were believed to be lost in the smoke. However, the pair were found a short time later.
Source: http://www.kcra.com/news/local-news/news-modesto/large-fire-burns-north-of-modesto/33660866Read my blog at http://eclecticarcania.blogspot.com/
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