JACKSON, Calif. (AP) — Evacuation orders were extended Tuesday for remote California communities near a wildfire that may have been sparked by fireworks or a Fourth of July barbecue in a mountainous region that is a top tourist destination.
The Electra Fire in the Sierra Nevada Gold Country erupted Monday afternoon and tripled in size to about 6.1 square miles (15.8 square kilometers). It was 5% held on Tuesday night.
Fire officials said the fire was short, uphill.
“The rate of spread is not what it was yesterday, but it’s still spreading,” Amador County Sheriff Gary Redman said. He said firefighters were working to contain the flames in unpopulated areas of the canyon.
Combined evacuation orders and warnings affected up to 700 residents in Amador County and 300 to 400 people in Calaveras County, Redman said. Evacuation centers for people and animals have been established.
The fire started in a recreation area that was packed with people, forcing 85 to 100 riverside holidaymakers to take shelter at a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. facility, Redman said. All were later safely evacuated.
“It was the closest I’ve ever been to a fire. It was literally steps away from us,” said Milka Mikula of Valley Springs, who had gone to the river with her husband, 5-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son.
They had to wait about six hours before they could finally go home, she told KCRA-TV.
“I just wanted to go home. I just wanted out of there with my babies. I was shaking really, really bad for quite a while,” Mikula said.
Redman said the cause of the fire is unknown, but that it started in the Vox Beach area of the North Fork Mokelumne River. He said that could suggest fireworks or a barbecue as a potential cause.
More than 100 fire engines, 1,200 firefighters and 14 helicopters were dispatched to the blaze, which threatened power infrastructure, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. The terrain was described as steep and uneven.
Cal Fire activated an incident management team for the fire. The teams “are composed of trained personnel who provide operational management and support for large-scale, expanding incidents,” Cal Fire said.
One firefighter from the local fire protection district suffered burns, Redman said.
Vox Beach is about 55 miles (89 kilometers) east of Sacramento in the heart of the Sierra Nevada region, which has been steeped in gold rush history since the mid-1800s.
Several other small fires were burning in the state.
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