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California Fire Prompts Evacuations

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By DON THOMPSON, The Associated Press

Published: September 9, 2007

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A forest fire in a remote area of the northeast Sierra Nevada continued to spread, but light winds moved the flames away from homes Saturday, officials said.

Smoke from the blaze continued to cause haze and health warnings hundreds of miles away, as far as the San Francisco Bay area, but the wind was turning much of the smoke toward the northeast.

The blaze near Greenville had covered 42,000 acres - or about 65 square miles - destroying one unoccupied summer home, a trailer and a small shed, since it started Monday, but no major injuries have been reported, U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Pandora Valle said. It was just 16 percent contained.
Mandatory evacuations remained in effect Saturday for 50 to 100 people in the North Arm of Indian Valley and other small communities, though residents were being allowed to return as necessary to care for livestock, Valle said. Residents of Genesee and Taylorsville were advised, but not required, to leave their homes.

Five firefighters have suffered minor injuries, Valle said. The relatively light wind was expected to continue pushing the flames toward the north and northeast.

Farther south, a wildfire had charred 39,585 acres in Henry W. Coe State Park south of San Jose, said Wayne Rhoten, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. It was about 45 percent contained Saturday morning, and full containment was expected today, Rhoten said.

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