California Wildfires: Sand Fire Grows, Destroys Homes, Hundreds Evacuated
Source: Weather.com
By Eric Zerkel
With California mired in its worst drought on record, it was only a matter of time before something, or someone, sparked more fires in the tinder that now covers the state. Now firefighters just hope that they can contain the latest round of blazes before more homes and livelihoods are lost.
The Sand Fire, sparked July 25 by a vehicle that drove over dry brush, has already claimed 12 structures, including five homes, in an area to the east of Sacramento, California. The fire, fueled by hot, dry, windy conditions ballooned to around 4,000 acres and was only 20 percent contained Saturday, in an area five miles north of the town of Plymouth, California, despite a show of force by firefighters.
Nearly 1,500 firefighters, along with aircraft, battled the flames as they encroached upon the community of River Pines Estates in Amador County, California. More than 500 homes in the community were evacuated Saturday under the lingering threat from the fire.
"The fire's moving in and around homes in the area," Lynn Tolmachoff, a spokesperson for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, told the Associated Press. "The leading edge is bumping up against residences as we speak."
FULL story, photo gallery, and map at link.
Read more: http://www.weather.com/news/california-wildfires-sand-fire-20140727
= new reply since forum marked as read
these fires are inevitably man-made.
