Crime & Safety
Whaleback Fire: Evacuations Ordered As 16,000 Acres Burn
Fire officials say the battle against the wildfire will be more difficult as temperatures heat up.
LASSEN COUNTY, CA -- A wildfire that erupted about 3.5 hours north of Sacramento grew Tuesday morning to more than 16,000 acres. The Whaleback Fire, which ignited Friday in Susanville, forced the evacuation of hundreds of homes as crews expected fire conditions to worsen as temperatures heated up.
The blaze, which is expected to be contained by next Wednesday, was one of many to spark across the state in recent days. The most deadly wildfire erupted in Shasta County where six people, two of whom were firefighters, died in the Carr Fire. Another two firefighters died in the Ferguson Fire in Mariposa County.
For the Whaleback Fire, mandatory evacuations were ordered for the community of Spalding and the Gallatin Marina, Ronald McDonald House and the Merrill, Christie, Eagle and Aspen campgrounds. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news fromyour California neighborhood. Also, download the free Patch iPhone app or free Patch Android app. Also, be sure to follow your local Patch on Facebook!)
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About 1,000 evacuated due to #WhalebackFire north of Susanville. About 400 homes threatened.https://t.co/4PGawanOCB pic.twitter.com/O018MoCAE3
— Steve Timko (@KOLOTimko) July 28, 2018
Evacuated from #EagleLake last night & stayed in the Walmart parking lot in Susanville due to the #WhalebackFire. First pic was at 2pm yesterday, second was 11pm. Thank you to all fire crews battling all of the fires throughout California ♥️ pic.twitter.com/uwElIfFupF
— Paige Haakma (@_paigehaak_) July 28, 2018
43 large wildland fires are burning 260,000 ac. on National Forest System lands. The National Preparedness Level (PL) is at its highest of 5. https://t.co/ltSxwyXHT3 Photo: #WhalebackFire on the Lassen National Forest in CA. https://t.co/urNeW4JukE pic.twitter.com/pd8A24dmbt
— Forest Service_NIFC (@FSNIFC) July 31, 2018
--Photo via Shutterstock
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