California governor declares fire emergencies in four counties

Gov. Gray Davis has declared fire emergencies in four Northern California counties and has ordered National Guard troops to assist firefighters battling major blazes in the Sierra Nevada.

The California fires were among 27 major blazes Thursday that had consumed 121,000 acres of grass, brush and timber across the West. Firefighters in air and ground crews fought many of the fires in triple-digit temperatures and rugged terrain. Meteorologists said lightning strikes threatened to spark new fires.

About 11,000 firefighters using at least 750 engines battled blazes in California, where nearly half the major fires were burning, and in Nevada, Oregon, Montana, Washington and Idaho. They were supported by at least 104 helicopters and two dozen air tankers.

"The situation is escalating and it's getting to the point where we're concerned about being able to respond to all the fires adequately," said Janelle Smith of the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.

Thick smoke from the fires blanketed Reno, Nev., and cities in California's Central Valley, including Sacramento, where authorities warned residents to avoid unnecessary outdoor activity.

"It feels like I have a freight train sitting on my chest," said Tina Munoz, a severe asthmatic who runs a coffee cart near the state Capitol. "This reminds me of the air when Mount St. Helens blew its top."

Davis, declaring emergencies in Tehama, Butte, Tuolumne and Shasta counties, said "All state fire-fighting resources have been deployed to combat these wildfires."

The emergency declaration means the counties can be reimbursed by the state for many of the costs of fighting the fires.

The U.S. Forest Service summoned forces from throughout the nation. Additional help could come from the National Guard, the active-duty Army and Canada, Smith said.

Davis ordered California National Guard personnel to assist firefighters - some of whom had been on the lines for more than 30 hours. The order included the deployment of C-130 transports and Blackhawk helicopters to carry supplies and firefighters.

The National Weather Service forecast lightning with little rain overnight Thursday in south-central Oregon, northern Nevada and Northern California, and storms and high temperatures in spots today, spurring fears of more fires.

One death in California was blamed on the fires that have roared out of control since lightning sieges started last weekend. Investigators said Michelle Marie Bruno, 36, became disoriented in wildfire smoke in Butte County and made a wrong turn. She was found dead Tuesday beside her burned truck.

Few structures have burned and there were no mandatory evacuations in effect. Dozens of firefighters were battling heat exhaustion and smoke inhalation, officials said.

Clusters of fires in Tehama and Glenn counties had burned a total 24,000 acres; in Butte County, more than 23,480 acres; in Shasta County, 8,600 acres; in the Shasta-Trinity National Forests, more than 4,000 acres; in Lassen National Forest, hundreds of acres; in Klamath National Forest, 300 acres; and in Modoc National Forest, 11,500 acres. "At the present time we're having some real problems with wind," CDF Division Chief Bill Morrisson said Thursday night.

Two separate clusters of fires on the Plumas National Forest had together burned more than 6,000 acres.

Three large fires - one of 6,400 acres and two of 700 acres each - burned in Lassen and Modoc counties.

In the Stanislaus National Forest in Central California near Groveland, firefighters battled a brush and timber blaze that had grown to more than 3,525 acres.

In nearby Yosemite National Park, officials allowed two lightning-sparked fires to burn as long as they did not endanger inhabited areas. Together, the fires have burned more than 7,000 acres.

A 600-acre fire in the Angeles National Forest was about two-thirds surrounded Thursday as lightning sparked new wildland blazes in Kern County and Joshua Tree National Park.

In Nevada, firefighters hoped to snuff out a fire in the Antelope Valley near Reno by sometime today. It has blackened about 6,500 acres of sagebrush and juniper.

Nevada firefighters also battled a 500-acre fire in grass and brush near Elko, a 4,500-acre grass fire 70 miles northwest of Winnemucca, and a cluster of separate fires totaling 30,000 acres in grass and brush 45 miles north of Reno.

Also in Nevada, firefighters late Thursday stopped the spread of a blaze that scorched about 1,500 acres of sagebrush and cheatgrass just north of Carson City. It forced about 15 campers to flee from Washoe Lake State Park.

In Oregon, firefighters attacked a 675-acre blaze 12 miles south of Dayville and a 10,500-acre fire in sage brush in the Sheldon-Hart National Wildlife Refuge, 120 miles southeast of Lakeview.

Firefighters fought a 300-acre grass fire in southeastern Idaho. Authorities allowed a cluster of timber fires totaling 2,360 acres to burn naturally on the Payette National Forest in central Idaho, as long as the blazes did not threaten inhabited areas.

Two large wildfires, both contained, burned on the Colville Indian Reservation in Washington state.

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