Firefighters Deploy Shelter in CA Wildfire; One Critically Injured

Wildfires continued to ravage Northern California on Tuesday, as more campers were airlifted from blazes near Fresno and several firefighters were injured after flames overtook them in Monterey County near Big Sur.

Helicopters from the National Guard and other teams swooped in amid dense smoke and flames to evacuate as many as 164 people stranded in the Sierra National Forest after the explosive Creek Fire tore through the Fresno County forest with staggering speed Labor Day weekend.

The 143,929-acre fire is just one of several blazes statewide that have erupted into major threats in recent days, spurred in part by westerly winds and punishing heat, even as Bay Area firefighters managed to mostly contain the three fire clusters that have consumed 858,342 acres to date.

Gov. Gavin Newsom applauded the work of California National Guard crews carrying out air evacuations that have freed a total of 362 hikers and 16 dogs since the Creek Fire began Friday. He said 2.3 million acres have burned statewide this year, surpassing the 2018 record of just under 2 million.

CAL FIRE said that compared with last year, California has seen over 2,650 more fires and a nearly 2,000% increase in the acres burned year-to-date.

Pilots on Tuesday’s four rescue missions at the Creek Fire wore night-vision goggles to see through the smoke-filled air. One pilot, Joseph Rosamond, called it the worst flying conditions he has experienced in his 20-year flying career.

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As the fire worsened, backpackers camping across the Sierra National Forest scrambled to flee the fire and find civilization to determine an escape plan. Many of those locations were at lakeside resorts, such as Edison Lake.

The Vermilion Valley Resort, which caters to hikers following the John Muir or Pacific Crest trails, cooked up meals for about 70 weary hikers who scrambled there for safety. Early Tuesday morning, a series of helicopter rescues plucked many of them from the resort.

On the resort Facebook page, frantic parents and relatives of hikers posted messages asking if their loved ones were safe or had been evacuated.

“Thank you..thank you...thank you!!! Your kindness, generosity, and humanity, are so appreciated,” one woman wrote. “God bless you all.”

China Peak Mountain Resort, a ski resort during the winter, was another evacuation site for stranded hikers. The resort posted photos of the fire off in the distance on its Facebook page.

“Please pray for all firefighters, volunteers, and those with permanent and second homes,” the resort posted. “This is devastating. We will be in touch as soon as we can get back to the resort. For now, please please pray hard!”

Like the Creek Fire, which has already destroyed 65 homes and was uncontained as of Tuesday afternoon, the Dolan Fire raging south of Big Sur in Los Padres National Forest and Ventana Wilderness Area spread with considerable speed over the weekend, fueled by gusty winds and bone-dry undergrowth.

Fourteen firefighters attempting to save the Nacimiento Station in Los Padres National Forest were forced to deploy emergency shelters as the fire swept over them, with many suffering burn injuries and smoke inhalation. Three were taken to the Community Regional Hospital in Fresno via helicopter, with one person in critical condition and the other two “fair,” according to a statement from the U.S. Forest Service.

The Dolan Fire has doubled in size since Sunday and was 40% contained as of Tuesday morning as crews worked to beat back flames in steep, rugged terrain.

The two latest conflagrations were adding pressure on fire crews already stretched to the breaking point statewide, Newsom said at a Tuesday afternoon press conference. He said colder weather moving into Colorado and other states experiencing fires should make more crews available to help fight California’s fires.

The blazes have to date destroyed 3,400 structures, a number the governor said is almost certainly an undercount. Despite the progress crews have made to contain the massive LNU and SCU complexes, Newsom warned, “Those fires are anything but behind us.”

Throughout the holiday weekend, fire crews across Northern California continued to gain ground on the lightning-sparked blazes that have now burned for over three weeks.

The SCU Complex fires in Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties were 95% contained as of Tuesday morning, with full containment expected by Saturday, according to Cal Fire officials. The fires have charred 396,624 acres across the five counties, destroyed 124 structures and injured five people.

Firefighters in San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties reached 81% containment on the CZU Lightning Complex as of Tuesday morning, up 5 percentage points from Monday. The fires have burned 86,509 acres across San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties, destroyed 925 residences and claimed one life, Cal Fire said.

In the North Bay, strong winds stoked unburned areas within the 95% contained Walbridge Fire, causing the fire to spread outside of containment lines in Sonoma County, Cal Fire officials said Tuesday morning.

New evacuation orders and warnings were issued for those areas, but those orders were later downgraded. The Walbridge Fire is part of the 91% contained, 375,209-acre LNU Lightning Complex burning in several counties, including Sonoma and Napa. LNU fires have destroyed 1,491 structures and killed five people.

With this year’s wildfire season already off to an explosive start, Newsom on Tuesday took aim at climate change skepticism as California’s extreme weather events become normalized.

“I have no patience for climate change deniers,” he said.

Nora Mishanec, Megan Cassidy and Matthias Gafni are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] Twitter: @NMishanec, @meganrcassidy, @mgafni

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