California Wildfires Burn Thousands of Acres
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Crews battling the Sherpa Fire, burning for the fifth day in Santa Barbara County, faced temperatures in the 90s and strong winds.
California officials said 7,811 acres have burned as of Sunday, while 2,016 firefighters -- from the US Forest Service, Cal-Fire and Santa Barbara County Fire, working under a unified command -- have battled the blaze, CBS reported.
Efforts on Sunday focused on containment lines along the eastern edge of the fire, the southern part near Highway 101, and the northeast corner which is hilly terrain, inaccessible to firefighting equipment such as bulldozers.
Concerning for firefighters is a Red Flag Warning running through Tuesday morning. Red Flag conditions bring higher winds, extremely hot temperatures and lower humidity, which makes firefighting more difficult.
The county is home to a billion-dollar agriculture industry. Avocado, citrus, and olive crops have already been lost.
A new wildfire that broke out forced the evacuation of hundreds of a small town of about 600 people in the California desert near the Mexico border.
State fire spokesman Kendall Bortisser says about 75 people had to evacuate Sunday afternoon from Potrero, a town along State Route 94 just a few miles north of Tecate, Mexico, and about 40 miles southeast of San Diego.
Horses and other animals are also being evacuated in the ranching community. The blaze broke out shortly before noon amid triple-digit temperatures and significant winds.