At an afternoon news conference Friday the state’s top fire official, Cal Fire Chief Ken Pimlott, blamed drought-starved brush for the infernal eruptions across California.
“Evacuate, evacuate, evacuate,” he said. “Pay very close attention to social media, websites, local television and radio broadcasts.”
So many fires had broken out across the Golden State that Pimlott said first responders were hoping to mount vicious initial attacks to keep them in check. “Our first priority always is the initial attack of new fires,” he said.
Brig. Gen. Matthew Beevers of the California National Guard said 800 of his troops were either at the Carr fire or were headed that way. The guard has also deployed multiple aircraft, including at least one military drone that is allowing firefighters to monitor the behavior of the blaze, he said.
The Shasta County inferno has drawn 3,400 fire fighters from as far away as San Diego County, which on Friday was dealing with its own brush fire, the 240-acre Pasquale fire near the storied town of Ramona.
Other blazes included the 46,675-acre Ferguson fire in Mariposa County, which was nearly one-third contained, and the 12,300-acre Cranston fire in Riverside County, which Cal Fire says is 16 percent contained.