California Fire Forces 1,500 To Flee Blaze Sparked By A Short In Motor Home’s Generator

A wildfire raged in the heavily wooded Sierra Nevada foothills Sunday, forcing hundreds of residents to flee and destroying up to 100 homes and buildings. Many were allowed to return later in the day.

The blaze was sparked Saturday when a motor home’s generator shorted, officials said. By early Sunday, shifting wind had carried it across about 5,800 acres of mountainous terrain, including parts of the tiny Yuba County town of Oregon House, about 40 miles north of Sacramento.

The blaze was 50 percent contained by evening, with full containment expected by early Tuesday, the California Department of Forestry said.

The wind had calmed Sunday, making the greatest fear low humidity coupled with temperatures expected to reach into the upper 90s.

Some 1,500 residents in Oregon House and nearby Dobbins were forced to evacuate the rural area. Hundreds were staying at packed schools in nearby Brownsville and will not be allowed home for at least two days, said Carol Gibson, a CDF spokeswoman.

Joe Cardoza found that the fire had destroyed his small restaurant, auto shop and three houses in Oregon House.

“There’s nothing left - you can’t salvage it,” he said, surveying the scene Sunday. “The fire took what it wanted to take.”

Cardoza, 62, said he was watching the flames from a safe distance late Saturday when the wind suddenly shifted and fire barreled down on the town.

“It created its own whirlwind, and then everything was on fire. It was just unbelievable,” he said.

Teams were dispersed throughout the fire area to count the homes destroyed. Some 80 to 100 homes and buildings appeared to have been decimated in the fickle blaze, which burned some homes and left others nearby untouched.

However, much of the rural hamlet was spared as the fire bobbed and weaved with the wind. The town’s post office still stood, as did several homes, some standing next to destroyed ones.

Unlike Cardoza, not everyone was able to return right away.

‘I’m waiting to get back in to see if anything’s left,” said Michael Stoodley, who left his home just after midnight.