More than 150 homes have been destroyed in a fast-moving California wildfire, and the blaze continued to grow Saturday but at a slower rate, officials said.
Two people died in the so-called Erskine fire, which started Thursday in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and exploded from 5,000 acres to 30,000 acres by Friday night.
By Saturday the fire had grown to just over 35,700 acres and was experiencing “extreme wind driven and uphill runs,” the Bureau of Land Management said.
“It’s all gone, it really is,” Russell Forest said as he surveyed the wreckage of his home in South Lake. “I’ve been here twice trying to salvage anything, and I can’t even tell where things used to be.”
South Lake is a community mostly of retirees. Some who lost their homes have no fire insurance, resident Shelly Eskew told NBC News. Her home survived, but her parents’ home next door was burned.
The fire, which prompted mandatory evacuation orders in at least nine counties, had been called 5 percent contained Friday but fire officials revised that number to 0 percent Saturday because they want to ensure retardant lines hold. Fire officials warned Saturday that high temperatures and winds could spread the blaze.
“I thought this was my retirement fund,” said Danny Walker, who lost his house, his garage, and two of his three dogs. “Everything’s gone.”
“I ain’t got money to start over,” he said. “I’ll start somewhere.”
California Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency. Three Kern County firefighters who suffered minor to moderate smoke inhalation were released from the hospital by Saturday, the fire department said.
“I’ve never been in a wildland fire where I’ve seen so many homes burn,” Kern County fire Capt. Tyler Townsend told NBC Los Angeles Friday. “It’s one of the most devastating I’ve ever seen.”
High temperatures have fueled recent wildfires in the West.
The so-called Dog Head Fire in New Mexico, which broke out June 14 and burned nearly 18,000 acres — damaging a dozen homes — was 90 percent contained by Saturday, the U.S. Forest Service said.
Another blaze in Southern California, the Sherpa Fire west of Santa Barbara, started June 15 and burned 7,400 acres but was 93 percent contained as of Saturday.
The Border Fire, also in Southern California but near the Mexico border, burned just over 7,600 acres and was 70 percent contained by Saturday, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.
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