500 Flee Town as Fire Spreads From ‘Controlled Burn’

A federal brush-thinning fire that got out of hand and destroyed two dozen homes in this rural mountain hamlet 300 miles north of San Francisco was reported 50% contained Saturday.

The blaze forced 500 people to flee the Trinity County town.

“We had a few minutes to get out of there. I grabbed our coats, I grabbed our guns out of the cabinet. I got the ’57 Chevy,” said Rod Robinson as he examined the smoldering debris of his home.

The fire began Friday afternoon after wind gusts caused a controlled burn by the Bureau of Land Management to flare out of control.

The BLM had sought to burn 100 acres of weeds and brush in an attempt to thin fire-prone growth. The winds pushed the fire across Lewiston, a scenic mountain community.

“We were halfway through with the burn and we made the call to continue and finish it up,” said Doug Held, who was in charge of the BLM burn.

By Saturday, the fire had burned more than 2,000 acres.

Held apologized and said, “I think we’re going to have to reevaluate our prescription burn program.”

There was no immediate estimate of the losses and no one was hurt in the blaze.