Mail Tribune – by Mark Freeman
A Monday afternoon wildfire roared through part of the Northern California city of Weed, burning more than 100 structures and leading to the evacuation of more than 1,500 people and a three-hour closure of Interstate 5 before firefighters quelled the flames.
The Boles fire was more than 400 acres and 0 percent contained late Monday night. The destroyed or damaged structures in and around Weed included Roseburg Forest Products mill buildings and at least one church, according to the California Department of Forestry.
Weed native David Sprunger in Medford hastily contacted family members in his old haunts where family members reported huge swaths of Weed burned.
“In my brother-in-law’s words, most of the town is gone,” Sprunger said Monday evening. “There are entire sections of the town that are completely burned.
“It’s an irrevocable change to the town,” Sprunger said.
I-5 was closed both north and south at Weed for nearly three hours before traffic flow was restored, allowing thousands of stranded motorists to creep past the smoldering high-mountain town of about 3,000 residents.
The California Department of Transportation briefly asked its Oregon counterparts shortly after 5 p.m. to close southbound I-5 traffic at the California border, but the agency rescinded its request before the closure could be enacted, ODOT spokesman Gary Leaming said.
However, Highway 97 remained closed late Monday as hundreds of firefighters worked prevent the fire from moving north, but it still was advancing Monday evening, according to CDF.
Ignited by an unknown source in Weed at about 1:30 p.m., the fire quickly moved through portions of the town, according to CDF. Fanned by winds of close to 40 mph, flames leaped forward as the fire moved northeast to threaten other Siskiyou County communities such as Lake Shastina and Carrick, both of which were evacuated, CDF reported. Evacuation orders for Lake Shastina were later lifted.
Pacific Power ramped down its electricity output in the area and rampant outages were reported during the afternoon as emergency managers and the Red Cross scrambled to set up shelters locally and as far away as Yreka to aid stranded motorists and those fleeing the flames.
Buses carried students from the Weed Elementary School out of harm’s way while others quickly packed up and fled as Siskiyou County Sheriff’s deputies and city police went door to door warning residents of the dangers.
Thick plumes of smoke filled the air and an airspace restriction was ordered to give firefighters the chance to operate freely over the fire.
Initially, firefighters had no answer to the advancing flames, but a quick arsenal of retardant tankers, water-dropping helicopters and firefighting ground crews in the hundreds started getting the upper hand at dusk, according to CDF.
“Black land. Very flat. A lot of trees burned, a lot of sad, scared folks,” state fire spokeswoman Susie Brady told the Associated Press.
Weed, historically a lumber town, was named after the founder of a mill, Abner Weed, who “discovered that the area’s strong winds were helpful in drying lumber,” according to the town’s website.
Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 541-776-4470 or mfreeman@mailtribune.com. Follow him at www.twitter.com/MTwriterFreeman.
http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20140915/NEWS/140919778/101065/NEWS