WEED, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 4: The historically-Black Lincoln Heights neighborhood of Weed, Calif., sits in ruins, Sunday, Sep. 4, 2022, two days after it was largely destroyed in the Mill Fire. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
GAZELLE, Calif. — Just as crews in Siskiyou County started to gain a foothold on the Mill Fire in Weed near the California-Oregon border on Sunday morning, firefighters are now racing to extinguish a separate blaze that broke out 15 miles to the west near the city of Gazelle.
The Mountain Fire has burned 8,460 acres and is 10% contained as of late Sunday morning, according to CAL FIRE spokesman Rick Carhart, and it is currently moving to the southeast. Carhart said that no communities, including the town of Gazelle, are under threat at the moment.
The fire has forced road closures on Gazelle Callahan Road and evacuations orders are underway from Scarface Road to the north, down to the town’s elementary school in the south and just near Eastside Road to the west.
Carhart said that approximately 800 personnel are assigned to the Mountain Fire and that aircraft will be looking for breaks in the smoke plumes on Sunday to attack the blaze. More crews are expected to work on the fire in the coming days, he said.
The Mill Fire, which started on Friday, has burned 4,254 acres and is 25% contained. Carhart said that fire crews were making good progress Sunday morning and were preparing to let evacuees back to their homes soon.
Firefighters are working the blazes while punishing heat continues to hit the state. Temperatures in Siskiyou County are expected to hover around the high 80s and low 90s.
Originally published at Gabriel Greschler