California Wildfires Force Evacuation of the Entire Town of Auberry

The California government has ordered the evacuation of Auberry’s entire town on Monday, a mountain community of 2,500 in central California.

The Creek Fire has continued to burn out of control and has grown to nearly 80,000 acres in size. This means a serious threat to life, which made the government issues an evacuation order.

The evacuation orders were also extended to the additional areas of Madera and Fresno counties, including the communities of Big Creek, Huntington Lake, Shaver Lake, and Cascadel Woods.

The fire is burning on both sides of the San Joaquin River near the Mammoth Pool Reservoir and Shaver Lake, and Officials said evacuation centers had been opened in Fresno and Oakhurst.

“Any community currently in danger has had an evacuation advisory issued. However, the fire is moving fast. Have a plan and be ready to leave ahead of an order if you feel unsafe,” the Madera County Sheriff’s Department added in a tweet.

According to the National Interagency Fire Center, there are currently 76 active wildfires burning in the United States, 22 of which are in California.

However, the wildfires ravaging the state of California, destroying homes and leading thousands to evacuate their communities, has made the California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency on Sunday.

The state of emergency applies to Fresno, Madera, and Mariposa counties where the Creek Fire is burning, and San Bernardino and San Diego counties where the El Dorado Fire and Valley Fire, respectively, are raging, a statement from the state’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) said Sunday night.

Moreover, the Valley Fire in San Diego County, southeast of Alpine, has burned 9,850 acres since it began Saturday and is at 1% containment, Cal Fire San Diego said in a tweet late Sunday night.

More so, an electrical company, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) announced that about 172,000 customers across 22 countries in Northern California could have their power shut off night to prevent electrical equipment from sparking a wildfire.

Also, the National Forests in southern and central California will close to because of the monumental fire threat from wildfires across the state, according to a news release from the US Forest Service.

“Most of California remains under the threat of unprecedented and dangerous fire conditions with a combination of extreme heat, significant wind events, dry conditions, and firefighting resources that are stretched to the limit,” the release says.

All campgrounds in the state will be closed for both day use and overnight camping. Among the closed areas are the Sierra National Forest, Yosemite National Park, The San Bernardino National Forest.

The closure means no hiking, biking, fishing. The Forest Service said it hopes the closure will reduce the potential for fires caused by humans.

“The wildfire situation throughout California is dangerous and must be taken seriously,” said Randy Moore, regional forester for the USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region. “Existing fires are displaying extreme fire behavior, new fire starts are likely, weather conditions are worsening, and we simply do not have enough resources to fully fight and contain every fire.

“We are bringing every resource to bear nationally and internationally to fight these fires, but until conditions improve, and we are confident that National Forest visitors can recreate safely, the priority is always to protect the public and our firefighters. With these extreme conditions, these temporary actions will help us do both.”