Authorities were forced to order about half the people, at least 1,500, to leave. Evacuation orders were also issued for the communities of Carrick and Lake Shastina. The 40 mph gusts of wind blew embers as far as a half-mile away. “The fire was able to rage right into the community before we were able to get fire equipment into the scene,” said to the media Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. More than 800 firefighters battled the blaze into the night. For a while, authorities had to close Interstate 5, the main freeway between California and Oregon, in the area. Officials plan to send a damage assessment team to the Northern California community of Weed on Tuesday. The cause of the blaze is still under investigation.
This wildfire is one of a almost a dozen burning now across California.
