California Wildfires Burn 90,000 Acres
Crews battling two areas of wildfire that had consumed more than 90,000 acres of California wilderness dug in their heels Thursday in advance of a dry, windy weekend.
A state of emergency was still in effect for Trinity County in the remote northern part of the state, where a lightning-ignited wildfire had consumed 53,403 acres. Winds there are expected to pick up Sunday, holding the potential of sending burning embers into the air.
In anticipation, firefighters built control lines far afield of the approaching fires. The fires were 50% contained Thursday, but fire officials said they could not estimate when they would be fully contained.
Near Big Sur, fires had consumed 36,980 acres of forest and chaparral by Thursday, resulting in evacuations of dozens of people--including a band of monks--from remote areas of the Los Padres National Forest.
The fires near Big Sur were 20% contained Thursday, with no estimate on full containment.
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