Fast-spreading wildfire forces evacuations in Northern California
REDDING, Calif. – A fire that was "spreading rapidly" Thursday morning in Northern California burned 600 acres and forced numerous evacuations, including at the initial shelter set up for residents at the area's community college.
The Mountain Fire, named for its location near Bear Mountain and Dry Creek roadsin Jones Valley northeast of Redding, started a little after 11 a.m. Pushed by strong winds and high temperatures, the fire started threatening structures within minutes of the initial report. It grew to about 1 square mile in about an hour.
The fire comes a year after the Carr Fire ripped through the Redding area, destroying over 1,000 homes and leading to the deaths of eight people.
Derek Chumney said he had just returned home from a dentist appointment when he saw the Mountain Fire bearing down on his home.
“When I pulled into the driveway, I saw fire over here and fire over here and fire over there,” Chumney said.
Chumney didn't have time to grab anything except his cats and his son, who was wearing shorts without a shirt or shoes.
Chumney's mother, Rhea Griffith, said she got to the house a little later and it was gone.
“The only thing you could recognize was the partially melted swamp cooler,” Griffith said.
A plume of smoke from the fire drifted into Redding, where Chumney, Griffith, her grandson and a friend booked a room at a Motel 6.
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Shasta College in northeast Redding served as the initial shelter for evacuees, but it had to be evacuated as well shortly after 1 p.m. Another shelter at Crosspointe Community Church in south Redding had already been set up when the college got evacuated.
Shasta College spokesman Peter Griggs said the majority of the campus had been evacuated by 2:40 p.m. That including children at the school's early childhood education center.
Griggs didn't know how many people were on campus at the time the evacuation was ordered. Classes were canceled, and Griggs said he didn't know when they would resume.
Meanwhile, about 50 students at Foothill High School in Palo Cedro school needed transportation after two bus routes were blocked because Highway 299 was closed in response to the fire.
Foothill Principal Steve Abbott said classes and athletic activities weren't canceled, but the school was still on high alert.
"We definitely have major concerns right now, especially for the safety of the students who are in or near those burn areas," Abbott said. "The fire is about 9.5 miles from us and we don't see any smoke above our heads so the school is safe right now. We are working to make sure that those students get to their parents safely."
Accoarding to the California Highway Patrol's incident information website, the fire might have started at a houseboat on nearby Lake Shasta and was "spreading rapidly."
The Shasta County Sheriff's Office started calling for evacuations for numerous roads in quick succession, urging residents in multiple Facebook and Twitter posts to leave if they felt threatened instead of waiting for the office's call.
"This situation is very fluid and rapidly changing, if you do not see your road listed but feel you are in danger YOU MAY EVACUATE," a post from the office reads.
Contributing: Ethan Hanson
Follow Alayna Shulman on Twitter: @ashulman_RS
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Mountain Fire near Redding burns 600 acres, Shasta College evacuating
