Goleta fire burns homes in Santa Barbara County
HORNBROOK, Calif. (AP) -- The Latest on wildfires in the Western United States (all times local):
11 p.m.
A wildfire that erupted during a Southern California heatwave has burned at least four or five buildings in the hills above Goleta in Santa Barbara County.
County fire Capt. Dave Zaniboni tells KNX-AM radio that he saw homes burning Friday night in a residential area. He says the fire is threatening hundreds of homes, evacuations have been ordered and the blaze is only a mile from downtown Goleta.
Authorities say a house fire may have sparked the blaze, which is being pushed by strong winds.
The fire is one of several that erupted Friday as temperatures topped 100 degrees in many Southern California areas and embers ignited tinder-dry brush.
Several homes also have burned in a fire in the San Diego County town of Alpine.
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9:30 p.m.
Authorities say a fire burning on both sides of the California-Oregon border has destroyed 40 buildings and claimed at least one life.
Fire officials say the fire in rural Siskyou County is only 5 percent contained Friday night. The gusty winds that drove it explosively through brush and timber are expected to ease on Saturday.
Authorities found the body of a resident inside a home in the evacuated town of Hornbrook on Friday but say they don't expect any more fatalities.
Meanwhile, new fires in Santa Barbara and San Diego counties and east of Los Angeles threaten homes and have prompted evacuations. There are reports that some homes have burned in the San Diego County town of Alpine.
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6:30 p.m.
Gov. Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency for San Diego County, where a wildfire has destroyed several homes.
Brown issued the declaration on Friday because of a blaze that tore through the community of Alpine, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) east of San Diego.
Reporters at the scene say at least five homes and perhaps a dozen or more burned.
Fire officials say they've stopped the growth of the 400-acre blaze but hotspots still threaten homes.
Elsewhere in the county, a 330-acre fire on the Camp Pendleton Marine base that prompted the evacuation of 750 homes is now 40 percent contained.
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4:50 p.m.
A wildfire in San Diego County has burned at least five homes and perhaps as many as a dozen.
The reports came from journalists at the scene of the wildfire in Alpine, one of three blazes in the county that erupted Friday afternoon.
State fire officials say the 400-acre fire was only 5 percent contained, but crews had virtually stopped its growth and were focusing on knocking down hotspots that continue to threaten houses and mobile homes.
One firefighter was treated for minor facial burns.
Gusty winds fanned the flames as Southern California struggles through a scorching heat wave.
A fire at the Camp Pendleton Marine Base in the north county has prompted the evacuation of 750 homes.
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4 p.m.
A wildfire in the forest east of Los Angeles has prompted the mandatory evacuation of an entire town in Southern California -- one of several blazes threatening homes as the region swelters under a heat wave.
Fire officials say evacuations were ordered Friday afternoon for the community of Forest Falls because of a quick-moving fire in the San Bernardino National Forest.
The community 75 miles (120 kilometers) east of Los Angeles has more than 700 homes and about 1,000 residents.
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3:50 p.m.
A wildfire on a sprawling Southern California Marine base has prompted the evacuation of 750 homes.
Authorities say the fire erupted Friday at Camp Pendleton in San Diego County and has now burned 125 acres (50 hectares) of brush.
Another fire in the same county has destroyed several homes in the town of Alpine.
Hot weather and gusty winds have fueled dozens of wildfires in California and other Western states. Hundreds of homes have burned and at least one person has died.
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California officials say they are temporarily closing a hatchery and two other public areas because of their proximity to a deadly blaze near the Oregon state line.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife says the Iron Gate Fish Hatchery along the Klamath River, the Klamathon Road fishing access below the hatchery and the Horseshoe Ranch Wildlife Area have been closed as a precaution.
It said Friday staff will remain at the hatchery in Siskiyou for the time being.
The department says it's not known when the facilities will reopen.
Officials say fire crews found the body of a person killed in the fire but gave no other details.
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2:30 p.m.
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper says there will be a full investigation into how people firing tracer rounds allegedly started a wildfire that has destroyed three homes.
Speaking in El Jebel near the fire Friday, Hickenlooper said ammunition that illuminates the path of fired bullets shouldn't have been used when fire restrictions are in place because of extremely dry conditions. They are permanently banned on state ranges.
The Vail Daily reports that people firing at other public shooting ranges caused two wildfires in June. One involved a banned flammable target. In the other, someone reportedly shot beyond the target area into dry sagebrush.
State ranges in the region and some others around Colorado have closed because of the fire danger.
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1:35 p.m.
A fast-moving wildfire is burning a handful of homes in San Diego County.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says Friday afternoon that the fire in Alpine is about 150 acres (0.23 sq. miles) and had no containment.
Video from news helicopters showed fire crews running along Interstate 8 and trying to quell the flames that were spreading along the side of the freeway.
South of the freeway, a handful of homes were completely engulfed in flames.
San Diego Gas and Electric says nearly 1,700 customers are without power after the fire damaged the electric system.
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1 p.m.
One of Colorado's most popular national parks has banned all campfires to avoid starting any new wildfires.
Under the ban that took effect Friday, campfires are not permitted anywhere in Rocky Mountain National Park. Petroleum-fueled stoves and grills with on and off switches are still permitted in the park, which was visited by 4.4 million people last year.
The park says the decision was based on the extreme fire danger, the extended weather forecast and the current level of fire activity in the state.
The last time campfires were banned there was in June 2012, another very dry period.
Varying degrees of fire restrictions are in place on many other federal lands in Colorado. Fire bans have also been enacted by many counties.
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12 p.m.
A local California official says a deadly blaze burning near the Oregon border moved swiftly through the rural area that is home to many retirees.
Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors chair Ray Haupt says the blaze moved so fast it quickly reached Hornbrook, a community of about 250 people about 14 miles (22 kilometers) south of the Oregon border.
Authorities said one person was killed in the fire. But they gave no other details.
Haupt said Friday the fire is burning through grassland, oak and smaller brush and that it has destroyed several homes and killed livestock and horses.
He said many of the people he has talked to were either traveling or away for work when the blaze started Thursday and have not been able to find out the status of their homes.
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11 a.m.
Authorities in Oregon are urging hikers and other outdoors enthusiasts to avoid forested areas near the Oregon-California border, where a blaze has killed one person.
The Jackson County Sheriff's Office said Friday that although the blaze has not crossed into Oregon, officials are concerned people in remote areas could be unreachable in case they need to quickly evacuate.
It says the areas of concern include the Pacific Crest Trail, Mount Ashland and the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument.
The office says search and rescue crews may be prohibited from engaging in search missions because of fire danger.
It says detour routes for the area have not been established.
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10:25 a.m.
A fire official says a person has died in a fast-moving blaze near the California-Oregon border.
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokeswoman Suzi Brady said Friday the person died in the blaze that started Thursday but that she couldn't release any other details because next of kin have not been notified.
She says the blaze is threatening 300 homes near Hornbook, California, a town of 250 people about 14 miles (22 kilometers) south of the Oregon border.
The fire in Siskiyou County has burned more than 12 square miles (30 square kilometers). It is 5 percent contained.
Brady says the fire is being fueled by hot weather and extreme winds.
California Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency, citing "extreme peril" to people and property.