(CHINESE CAMP, Calif) — The historic gold rush town of Chinese Camp, California, has been devastated by one of multiple lightning-sparked wildfires in three Northern California counties that have burned more than 13,000 acres combined, authorities said.
More than 20 wildfires in Calaveras County and neighboring Stanislaus and Tuolumne counties, where Chinese Camp is located, began on Tuesday night, when more than 17,000 dry lightning strikes hit the area, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). The blazes are part of what Cal Fire has named the TCU Lightning Complex Fire.
As of Wednesday night, the fires combined had burned 13,371 acres, destroyed multiple structures and prompted evacuations in Calaveras, Tuolumne and Stanislaus counties, according to Cal Fire. The fire was 15% contained on Wednesday night, but there were individual fires within the TCU Lighting Complex Fire that remain 0% contained.
“Armageddon” is how Randall Hoffman, a resident of Chinese Camp, described the devastation to his small foothills town, about 60 miles west of Yosemite National Park.
“I think we lost 95% of the town,” Hoffman, whose home was spared by the fire, told ABC station KFSN in Fresno on Wednesday.
The wildfire that swept through Chinese Camp, dubbed the 6-5 Fire, had grown to 6,473 acres as of Wednesday night and was 0% contained, according to Cal Fire.
Structures throughout the tiny community of Chinese Camp, a town founded in by Chinese gold miners in the 1850s, were burned to the ground or damaged by the 6-5 Fire.
“To watch it come over the ridge the way it did and as fast as it did, that’s absolute fear,” Chinese Camp resident Pete Tomaino told KFSN after he evacuated from his home.
At least 11 areas threatened by the 6-5 Fire remained under mandatory evacuation on Wednesday night, including the entire town of Chinese Camp, which has a population of less than 100 people.
Meanwhile, the 2-8 Fire in Calaveras County, another blaze that was started by lightning strikes on Tuesday night and is part of the TUC Lightning Complex Fire, had burned 1,326 acres as of Wednesday night, according to Cal Fire. Multiple air tankers and helicopters, as well as fire crews on the ground, made progress fighting the fire on Wednesday, increasing containment to 15%, according to Cal Fire.
Further north, the Blue Fire, which was also started by lightning on Aug. 26 in the Klamath National Forest in Siskiyou County, near the Oregon border, has burned 1,631 acres, according to Cal Fire. As of Wednesday night, the Blue Fire was 0% contained and mandatory evacuation orders were in place, Cal Fire said.
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