Jul 19, 2008 11:00 am US/Pacific
Most California Wildfires Now Contained
BIG SUR (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ―
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Virginia Beaudry points to the remains of her home recently destroyed in a wildfire in Concow in Butte County.
AP
California firefighters by Saturday had managed to contain 98 percent — or all but 38 — of the more than 2,093 wildland blazes ignited over the past month in the state, allowing most mandatory evacuations to be lifted so residents could return home for the weekend.
Flames swept through 1,413 square miles around the state after a lightning storm on June 20 sparked hundreds of fires, leading to what officials have termed the largest fire event in California history.
"It's equivalent to the size of Rhode Island," said Tom Maruyama, the deputy director of response and recovery for the governor's Office of Emergency Services.
Bob Fenton, a spokesman with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said now that most of the fires are out, crews would go into the areas next week to assess the damage.
Monterey County
The Basin Complex Fire was 65 percent contained, and most residents have been allowed to return home.
But some cabins in the Santa Lucia Tract were still being kept empty until fire crews finish a backburn designed to clear fuel from the path of the fire.
In the hilly range flanking the Big Sur coast, the flames had swept over 200 square miles - or 129,700 acres - of heavily forested land, destroying 27 homes and 34 other structures. The blaze, which started June 21, has cost $53.8 million to fight.
The blaze also did some major damage to one of the only condor rescue facilities in California. Officials said the Condor Sanctuary in Big Sur caught fire and many of the bird pens there were destroyed.
"We don't have any capacity now to hold on to birds for any length of time," said Kelly Sorenson with the Ventana Wildlife Society. "We're the only non-profit in California that is releasing and managing Condors in the wild, so we need to rebuild, and we need to do it fast."
Meanwhile, a half-dozen sites along the Big Sur coastline reopened to the public for day-use only as of Friday.
The U.S. Forest Service said all of the sites were located west of Highway 1, including Pfeiffer Beach, Jade Cove Beach, Mill Creek, Willow Creek and Sand Dollar. Officials said "no overnight camping" and "no wood campfires or barbecues" were allowed, however gas stoves would be permitted.
The rest of the public lands within the Monterey Ranger District east of Highway 1 remained closed until the Basin Complex Fire is fully controlled, which was expected by the end of the month.
Butte County
The lightning fire complex sweeping through Butte County, which had led to the evacuation of 10,000 people and one resident's death, was 85 percent contained.
Fifty homes and 10 outbuildings were destroyed along with 86 square miles of terrain.
Mendocino County
Four weeks after lightning strikes caused 129 Mendocino County blazes, the fires were 100 percent contained, Cal Fire said Friday.
The fires consumed 53,300 acres and cost $45.8 million to fight.
Smoke and flare-ups could still continue within the control lines and firefighters would extinguish any remaining hot spots and patrol all fires for several days, officials said.
There were 46 injuries and one fatality. A voluntary firefighter with the Alexander Valley Fire Department died after suffering a heart attack.
The fires destroyed a residence and an outbuilding, Cal Fire said.
Trinity & Shasta Counties
Further north, in Trinity and Shasta counties, mandatory evacuations were still in effect for areas of the rural community of Junction City, and the Whiskeytown National Recreation Area. The fire there was 65 percent contained.
A six-to-eight week-old bear cub was discovered tottering down a trail in the hot ashes of the so-called Moon Fire in Shasta County on Thursday.
The 15-pound bear cub was badly dehydrated, suffering serious burns to all four paws, had an injured eye and was crying for its mother - which fire personnel could not find.
The young bear, dubbed "Smokey, Junior," reportedly enjoyed a lollipop before he was taken to a wildlife rescue center in Rancho Cordova. As of Friday, there was no prognosis on the future of the cub, if he would survive or not.
The firefighter who rescued the cub was undergoing rabies treatment as a precaution since the cub had scratched the firefighter's hands and then later licked the scratches.
President Bush flew over the 2.1 million-acre Shasta-Trinity National Forest, the largest in California, to survey fire damage on Thursday. He offered federal help and words of encouragement to the nearly 20,000 fire fighters who've been working to combat the flames.
So far, FEMA has obligated more than $154 million to California to pay for firefighting, evacuations, shelter, traffic control, equipment and supplies.
About 80 percent of the U.S. firefighting resources are currently deployed in California, according to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Cal Fire updates on all the major blazes burning throughout the state are available online at: http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_current.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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