Electra fire: California communities ordered to evacuate after blaze erupted on Fourth of July

The fire may have started from Fourth of July fireworks or barbecue, sheriff says

Communities in northern California has been forced to evacuate their homes to escape a rapidly-growing wildfire.

The Electra Fire, which erupted on Monday, has spread to 3,900 acres, a bit larger than the size of Los Angeles airport. The fire is burning in Amador County, around 40 miles southeast of Sacramento.

The Amador County Sheriff told the Associated Press that Fourth of July fireworks or barbecuing might have sparked the flames.

As of Wednesday morning, the fire was around 10 per cent contained, according to Cal Fire, the state fire agency. Around 1,200 firefighters have been deployed to the area.

The fire had started at a beach along a river, prompting immediate evacuations, AP reported. This region is a popular tourist destination and home to a lot of history surrounding California’s 19th century gold rush, they added.

One first responder has been injured, Cal Fire reported.

A representative from Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), one of the state’s utility companies, told the Los Angeles Times that around 12,000 customers were without power on Tuesday.

Dozens of people have sheltered at a PG&E site following the initial fire outbreak on Monday.

Wildfire season has gotten off to a rapid start in the US West, with over 4.6 million acres burned since January – roughly four times the size of Grand Canyon National Park. That’s more than double the 10-year average for this time of year, according to the US’s National Interagency Fire Center.

The climate crisis is worsening the threat of wildfires. A recent report found that 20 million properties in the US West have at least a 1 per cent chance of burning over the next 30 years, with the risk increasing as planetary warming pushes temperatures higher and worsens drought.

Last year, northern California experienced both the Dixie fire – the single largest in state history – and the Caldor fire, which prompted evacuations in the Lake Tahoe area. Already this year, massive fires have spread across New Mexico, Arizona and Alaska.