‘Head to toe’ burn victim among five hurt as California wildfire spreads
‘Head to toe’ burn victim among five hurt as California wildfire spreads
09 August 2013
published by http://usnews.nbcnews.com
USA — A Southern California wildfire that has left a person with head-to-toe burns and five firefighters hurt swelled Thursday to 14,000 acres and was described by authorities as 20 percent contained.
About 1,500 people fled Wednesday when the fire erupted in the hills of Riverside County, west of Palm Springs, as aerial video from NBC Los Angeles showed homes bursting into flames. Winds as strong as 40 mph pushed the fire, which Cal Fire classified as burning uncontrolled.
On Thursday, fire officials said the blaze had destroyed 27 structures, 26 of them homes. Cal Fires Jodi Hagemann said assessment crews were investigating, but would not be able to determine a total number of structures lost until Friday or later.
The fire known as the Silver Fire more than doubled in acreage on Thursday.
The person who was burned head to toe was at a hospital burn center. Cal Fire Riverside Chief John R. Hawkins told the NBC station that the person very, very tragically was very badly burned.
At least one of the firefighters suffered smoke inhalation and was taken to the hospital, Cal Fires Daniel Berlant said.
Cal Fire said that evacuation orders had been issued for the communities of Black Mountain, Vista Grande, Mount Edna, Poppet Flats, Twin Pines and Silent Valley, along with Snow Creek village and parts of Cabazon.
Cal Fire Riverside Chief John R. Hawkins said Thursday that 500 structures had been threatened by the blaze.
“It’s stressful, you always wonder if your house is going to be there or not,” resident Mike Galusha told NBC Los Angeles.
A map produced by Cal Fire showed several other wildfires in the state including in Riverside County, in the Sierra National Forest, in the Stanislaus National Forest and in the Klamath National Forest.
A new fire erupted Thursday afternoon near Wrightwood, northwest of San Bernardino, and quickly grew to 60 acres, forcing the mandatory evacuation of 75 homes.
The West has already suffered a series of destructive wildfires in 2013. Colorado experienced the most destructive wildfire in its history in June, which killed two and destroyed about 500 structures. As that fire burned, 11 other fires plagued the state and more threatened other parts of the Southwest.
The following month, 19 heavily trained Hotshot firefighters were killed in the Yarnell Hill wildfire in Arizona.
During a news conference Thursday on the Silver Fire, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., partially blamed climate change for the increase of wildfires in California. “Open your eyes, breathe the air and see whats going on,” she said.
