CHELSEA J. CARTER
Associated Press Writer
WEAVERVILLE, Calif. (AP) _ Ray Proffitt's home is an island of green amid a sea of black ash.
Before the flames and heat of a raging wildfire forced him and half his town to clear out Tuesday night, the 75-year-old had trained a garden hose on his home to try to save it. On Wednesday, he found his three-car garage destroyed but his house still standing.
``I had to make a last-ditch effort,'' Proffitt said. ``When the trees started crowning and exploding, I left.''
With firefighters still digging containment lines against the flames, residents began returning Wednesday to this town about 200 miles north of San Francisco. A day earlier, fire officials had ordered half the town of 3,550 to evacuate.
Twelve structures, including homes, were destroyed by the blaze that had grown from sparks along a highway to 1,680 acres. Wednesday night, it was about two-thirds contained.
The Weaverville fire was one of 27 large blazes burning Wednesday on more than 229,400 acres in the West, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
About 100 miles south of Weaverville, Mendecino County authorities on Wednesday arraigned a man on murder charges for the deaths of two pilots who were killed when their planes collided while fighting the 270-acre blaze the suspect allegedly started.
Prosecutors say remnants of a methamphetamine lab were found near the source of the blaze.
Investigators in Weaverville believe sparks from a car started the fire there in five spots along a highway two miles west of town, said California Department of Forestry spokesman Kevin Colburn.
Weaverville's Main Street, a quaint collection of cafes, restaurants and shops usually filled with tourist in the summer months, was almost deserted with only firefighters walking the streets.
``We're very concerned the winds could pick up and we could be in the same situation again,'' said Del Walters, deputy chief of the California Department of Forestry. ``Our objective is to keep the fire where it is.''
Damage so far was estimated at $3.5 million, including buildings and timber. The remnants of several mobile home trailers caught in the fire's path continued to smoke Wednesday, and residents were held back until propane tanks could be checked for heat damage.
``I can't believe it's gone,'' said Milt Apple, 25, staring at the burned remains of the home where his grandmother had lived for more than 20 years. ``She's too upset to even come look at it.''
In Montana, near the western edge of Glacier National Park, firefighters tried to gain ground on a wildfire burning over 15,000 acres. The blaze is the top priority in the northern Rockies because of the ``tremendously high potential for this thing to make a run again,'' said fire boss Bob Houseman said.
Continued hot and dry weather also prompted Forest Service officials to order restrictions on camp fires, off-road vehicles and smoking in western Montana's Bitterroot National Forest in advance of the Labor Day weekend.
Most of Washington's blazes, among the largest, were nearly contained.
Fires also were burning in Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming.
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