Wildfires spread through California

Source: Agencies  |   2008-6-23  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

WILDFIRES were scattered around northern California, the United States, yesterday, many of them started by lightning, as crews farther south were close to containing a blaze that had forced thousands to evacuate.

The largest had spread across 12.2 square kilometers of grassy woodland by early yesterday. It began Saturday afternoon in Napa County and quickly spread into a mostly rural area of Solano County.

The fire threatened 66 homes and two commercial properties as it burned in grassy woodland about 64 kilometers southeast of Sacramento, said Wayne Connor, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

It was 10-percent contained by yesterday morning and had destroyed one empty building, Connor said. A mandatory evacuation had been ordered for some residents, said agency spokeswoman Nancy Carniglia.

Thunderstorms were responsible for more than 60 fires on Saturday in Shasta-Trinity National Forest, about 250 kilometers north of Sacramento. They ranged in size from less than 0.4 hectares to more than 304 hectares.

None immediately threatened homes, said Forest Service spokesman Michael Odle. Teams moved in Saturday on the two largest fires.

Other fires were scattered throughout Northern California, with 90 ranging up to 50 hectares in the Mendocino County area alone.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's office said that lightning had sparked nearly 400 fires from Monterey County to the California-Oregon line.