Page 513 - Fireman News Today

Have never seen a fire move this fast. in just five hours over this past weekend, 20,000 acres burned in california through brush baked hard by four years of drought. thousands of people have evacuated. the rocky fire is the largest of more than two dozen wildfires tonight out west. carter evans went to the front lines in lake port, california. >> reporter: the wildfire burning northwest of sacramento exploded over the weekend, scorching 94 square miles, an area larger than the city of seattle. ...

Maybe more. shep. >> what more do you have on the search, trace? >> well, the rugged terrain as you talked about, scorching temperatures are making a lot more difficult for law enforcement. they also believe the suspect knows the area very well, and that means, instead of doing an offensive search, police are now having to play a little bit of defense, listen. >> the last thing we want to do is rush into an area and have the suspect waiting for us and ambush a deputy or a team. so after the shoo...

Nbcs gada schwartz is in clear lake, california for us tonight. good evening. >> reporter: erica, good evening. this is a fast-moving fire that is incredibly unpredictable. you can see the smoke billowing over the ridge and fire crews preparing to hold their lines. >> from the sign and bring it to me. >> reporter: fighting fire with fire, early this morning firefighters taking advantage of a change in the winds to burn a stretch along a california highway on their own terms. >> this is highway 2...

Flames, landscapes, the rocky fire doubling in size since yesterday scorching 20,000 more acres in just five hours and its threatening more than 6,000 structures. sarah workman is one of the 12,000 people forced to evacuate. >> finally smoking us out, and we got to get out of here. >> reporter: fires spreading through the west. now 21 major fires burning in california alone. 8500 firefighters on the front lines facing dangerous conditions and the drought is changing how these fires behave. >> al...

Good evening. thanks for joining us on this sunday. im tom llamas. we begin with the growing danger from californias raging wildfires. the worst of them, west of sacramento. the fast-moving rocky fire. take a look right there. nearly doubling in size overnight. more than 12,000 people evacuated. two dozen homes gone. the fire, only 5% contained. but the threat not just in california. major fires burning in nine states tonight. clayton sandell starting us off tonight. clayton? >> reporter: good e...

They said it came over their engines. >> reporter: what was it like as you were leaving? what were you thinking? >> the worst, you know. >> reporter: you didnt think it would be here when you came back? >> no. i left all the gates open and everything open so the horses would have an escape route. there wasnt time to load up before; they were going frantic. >> reporter: fortunately, all of his horses were there when he came back. >> yeah, theyre calming down. >> reporter: further north another fi...

Devore let me bring you in on this. i dont want to say -- the outrage is across the board. universally people were attacking him. why is animal rights a left thing? why does the left care more? >> the right wingers dont care about animals. they have cats, dogs, whatever. partly this whole controversy i think is shock and outrage that a wealthy american would go and break the rules of another country. we would never do that. >> if it was a fireman no one would have cared. >> americans dont like t...

The fire continues to grow to 18,000 acres. this house was lost today. at one point, fire crews had to quickly retreat. >> the fire shifted back towards me. >> reporter: stephen gilardi said the wind shifted and within minutes the fire began to bear down on his ranch. gilardi watched as crews tried to save his property. >> the fire was wild and aggressive, and it burned the whole place. >> reporter: the fire is only 5% contained, but in some part of northern california, hills have not burned in ...

>> tonight, california governor gerry brown has teclaird a state of emergency because of 18 wildfires that are burning in his state all over the west, the temperatures are rising and records are falling, especially where july has been one of the hottest ever. yakima, washington, hit 105 today; eugene, oregon, a record 102; and it was 101 in red bluff, california. john blackstone reports tonight from clear lake, california. >> reporter: firefighters facing a wall of flames fueled by dry wind and ...

Devore let me bring you in on this. i dont want to say -- the outrage is across the board. universally people were attacking him. why is animal rights a left thing? why does the left care more? >> the right wingers dont care about animals. they have cats, dogs, whatever. partly this whole controversy i think is shock and outrage that a wealthy american would go and break the rules of another country. we would never do that. >> if it was a fireman no one would have cared. >> americans dont like t...