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California blaze dies down
Officials reported progress with California's remaining 33 blazes, down from more than 2,000 in the past month, although fire danger remained high in some rural areas.
- AP
- Published: 11:53 July 23, 2008
San Francisco: Officials reported progress with California's remaining 33 blazes, down from more than 2,000 in the past month, although fire danger remained high in some rural areas.
In Trinity County, about 275 kilometers northwest of Sacramento, the outlying neighbourhoods of Junction City were still under evacuation orders on Tuesday, with a large wildfire less than 1.6 kilometers from the town of about 800 people, said Mike Johnson, a spokesman with the National Park Service.
The fire in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest was about 60 per cent contained after burning 241 square kilometers.
Flames around Northern California have led to a handful of evacuations and are contributing to air quality problems. Dense smoke has been creating unhealthy air that will likely turn hazardous in Trinity, Humboldt and Siskiyou counties this week.
State officials plan to turn gymnasiums and other buildings in all three counties into shelters equipped with air filters, Dimitri Stanich, spokesman for the California Air Resources Board, said.
Wildfires burning since June 21 have scorched 3,958 square kilometers across the state and destroyed 122 homes.
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