Fire crews burned trees and brush around this mountain town of 14,000 people Wednesday to keep a spreading wildfire from coming any closer.
Seventeen buildings, including homes, barns and sheds, were considered threatened by the fire, which remained five miles away, said Marty Christensen, a spokesman for the crew fighting the fire.
The fire, which has burned about 32,000 acres, was considered only 3 percent contained, Christensen said.
“It’s still extreme conditions, but I think everything is going as planned,” he said.
In Alaska, dozens of people fled their homes and took refuge at a lodge northeast of Fairbanks after a wildfire grew substantially overnight, perhaps doubling to about 117,000 acres, said Michelle Finch, a fire information officer.
Shirley Franklin, who owns the Chatanika Lodge with her husband, Ron, said people started showing up Tuesday afternoon.
“They were all in shock last night,” Franklin said Wednesday. She said many had packed up their photographs and brought along pets. “When I look out the window, I see animals sitting in cars.”
Meanwhile, officials in California said a wildfire in the Sierra Nevada that shut down a major highway and forced the evacuation of a Marine Corps housing compound was sparked Monday by a cooking fire built by four youths.
The district attorney’s office had not yet decided whether to file charges against the youths, said Murray Shoemaker, a fire information officer.
