Firefighters Winning Battle With Wildfires

The holiday weekend proved productive for firefighters battling wildfires in Northern California and Nevada.

An 125-acre fire that had threatened about 30 homes seven miles west of Redding was contained early Monday, officials said.

Near Lewiston, a controlled burn that got out of control and consumed 2,000 acres was 85% contained Monday. Full control of the blaze was expected by Friday, the California Department of Forestry said.

Another brush fire broke out Monday afternoon to the south in Vacaville, but it was expected to be surrounded by early evening.

The fire charred about 450 acres of brush in the Gibson Canyon area, said Department of Forestry spokeswoman Nancy Carniglia.

In Nevada, firefighters neared containment of a 12,000-acre brush fire northeast of Sparks, the third and by far the biggest wild land blaze in the area in just over a week.

Outside of Redding, about a dozen people were evacuated early Sunday because of the fire there, which broke out about 2:40 a.m. and quickly spread south into steep terrain with heavy brush cover.

Dennis Williams, 56, loaded his computer disks and extra clothes for his two children into the family car after he was awakened by Shasta County sheriff’s deputies about 3:30 a.m.

The family spent the rest of the night at a school. The children, ages 6 and 9, handled it well.

“They’re tired but they’re playing in the auditorium,” Williams said. “They’re doing OK--a little shocked to be woken up like that and shuffled out to the car.”

The residents were allowed to return Sunday afternoon.

The Lewiston fire, which started as a controlled burn to clear brush, roared out of control Friday and damaged two dozen homes. Hundreds were forced to flee.

The Bureau of Land Management was investigating how the blaze spread and has set up an office in nearby Weaverville for residents to file loss claims. The blaze caused about $1.6 million in damage, according to the state Department of Forestry.

Trinity County Supervisor Chris Erikson said Sunday that the investigation “should include the chance that this is criminal misbehavior . . . considering the weather conditions and the wind conditions at the time.”

The Department of Forestry repeated that federal officials had already taken responsibility for the fire.