The fire has already burned 30,000 to 40,000 acres with dangerous storms possible Saturday, according to an update from the Klamath National Forest.
“Cumulus clouds are developing in the fire area, which may exacerbate fire behavior,” the Klamath National Forest said in a Facebook post Saturday afternoon. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for Siskiyou County on Saturday, saying the fire has threatened critical infrastructure and forced nearly 2,000 residents to flee their homes.
The fire, known as the McKinney fire, started Friday in Siskiyou County, near the California-Oregon border, about four hours north of Sacramento. The county has a population of about 44,000, according to the United States Census Bureau.
A mandatory evacuation order was announced for parts of Siskiyou County on Saturday, according to the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office. Residents in the evacuation zone are asked to “please leave immediately.”
There is a red flag warning, indicating hazardous fire conditions. Lightning is expected in the area, and fire officials “expected a very dynamic day [Saturday] the forecasted weather is expected to be problematic for firefighters,” according to the InciWeb update.
Firefighters were forced to change their tactics “from an offensive perimeter control effort” to a more defensive posture to aid evacuations Saturday morning, the InciWeb report noted. Estimates on containment of the McKinney Fire were not yet available as of Saturday afternoon.
Two other fires burning in Siskiyou County, the China 2 and Evans fires, merged and burned more than 300 acres, prompting evacuation notices for more than 200 residents, according to the governor
The state of emergency is intended to unlock state resources and allow firefighters from other states to help crews battling wildfires in California, according to the governor’s office.