State of emergency declared in Northern California blaze; thousands flee

Alison Young | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Homes completely leveled by California wildfire As California residents continue to be evacuated from their homes, a brief respite in the weather leaves some firefighters hopeful for containment. But it was too late for some families as their homes were completely destroyed.

Two fast-moving fires have scorched more than 100,000 acres in Northern California, killing at least one person, forcing thousands to flee their homes and injuring firefighters struggling to contain the flames.

California Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency Sunday in Lake and Napa counties after the Valley Fire, which started Saturday afternoon northwest of Sacramento, continued to grow. That fire had burned at least 50,000 acres as of Sunday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or CalFire.

"The Valley Fire is currently burning out of control," said the Lake County Sheriff's Department in an alert sent out to residents ordering mandatory evacuations in the communities of Clearlake Riviera and Riviera West. Residents were instructed to gather their pets, medications and important papers.

Authorities said late Sunday that one person had been killed, the Associated Press reported. Fire officials estimate up to 1,000 homes have been destroyed.

More than 17,000 people as of Sunday afternoon had been forced from their homes, and more than 9,000 structures were threatened, reported KXTV. At Napa County Fairground in Calistoga, about 600 evacuees sought shelter, the American Red Cross said Sunday. In Kelseyville, an hour northwest, another 200 were staying at Kelseyville High High School, with shelter authorities preparing for more.

The cause of the Valley Fire, which started near the community of Cobb, is under investigation. Four firefighters suffered second degree burns while fighting the blaze and were in stable condition, said CalFire's chief public information officer Daniel Berlant in a briefing broadcast on Periscope Sunday afternoon.

"This has been a very destructive fire," Berlant said, noting that the towns of Middletown and Hidden Valley Lake have been hard hit by the fire, which has pushed to the southeast near the border of Lake and Napa counties. Wind-blown embers and ashes have resulted in thousands of acres of drought-parched brush and trees burning in less than 12 hours, he said. "Evacuations are widespread throughout the area," Berlant said.

It's unknown how many homes have been destroyed. While crews have not yet been able to conduct a damage assessment, it's believed that hundreds of buildings have burned, Berlant said on Twitter. He urged residents living anywhere near the fire to be prepared in case they need to evacuate, gathering important papers, photographs, medications and anything else that can't be replaced.

Hundreds have already sought shelter from the flames, emergency officials said.

"We don't keep a strict count of the number of people seen in the evacuation centers, but several hundred registered in our two shelters open last night," Red Cross spokeswoman Kathleen Maclay said Sunday.

Meanwhile firefighters were making some progress combating the Butte Fire in Amador and Calaveras counties. As of late Sunday it was 25% contained, and covered 65,300 acres, according to CalFire. It had destroyed at least 86 homes and 51 outbuildings so far. Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency Friday for Amador and Calaveras.

Berlant said the fires are sending large columns of smoke into the atmosphere, which is drifting across the state.

A cloud of haze descended on Reno from the wildfires burning in Northern California and it was forecast to blanket the Sierra Nevada region through Tuesday, a local National Weather Service forecaster told the Reno Gazette-Journal. "It's going be really bad around Lake Tahoe," said meteorologist Jim Wallmann said Sunday. "The visibility is down to a mile-and-a-half mile in South Lake Tahoe."

In Reno the air quality index reached 78, a level at which sensitive people should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion, according to the Washoe County Air Quality Management Division, the Gazette-Journal reported.

Berlant noted that the Valley and Butte fires are just two of about a dozen active fires burning in California, which has had significant fire problems due to drought producing tinder-dry conditions. Another fire of note, he said, is the Rough Fire, which has been burning since late July in the area of the Sierra National Forest. The Rough Fire, which is 31% contained and has burned more than 130,000 acres, is one of the largest fires in the state's history, he said.