Wildfires are continuing to devastate Northern California, as now more than 600 homes have been destroyed in the Valley Fire, while another 9,000 homes remain in serious danger.
This is double from the 300 that we had previously reported.
So far, the only victim has been a 72 year old woman who was unable to escape her house.
Roughly 62,000 acres have been destroyed by the Valley Fire up to this point. Fire crews are continuing to make progress at stopping the fire, but their effort is slow. Currently, containment is at 10%.
California residents have been devastated by the fire.
Local Resident of Middletown, CA Bob Cummensky said, “It’s such a beautiful area and it’s changed forever.”
Tammy Moore’s home of 15 years was completely obliterated by the fire
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“It is so much worse than I thought it would be. Even though I expected it to be bad, I didn’t expect to see everything gone,” said Moore.
According to California emergency services director Mark Ghilarducci, about 13,000 people have lost their homes in the fire. Meanwhile, another 11,000 people in the counties of Amador and Calaveras have had to evacuate.
In addition to the Valley Fire, the state is also dealing with the Butte Fire. This fire has destroyed more than 71,000 acres of land and scorched 170 homes. One-third of the fire is contained.
Other fires such as the Lumpkin Fire of Butte Country have resulted in orders of evacuation.
Wildfires have been a serious issue for California in recent years. Fire season used to be confined to specific periods of the year, but it is now a problem throughout the year because of a massive drought which has provided an abundance of dry fodder to spread flames.
Director of CalFire Chief Ken Pimlott said, “We don’t see an end in fire season for months to come. We’re in this for the long haul.”
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