San Francisco, July 12 : Beckwourth Complex Fire, the largest wildfire raging in the US state of California, has so far scorched 83,926 acres of land with only 8 per cent containment and destroyed multiple buildings, according to Inciweb, an interstate incident information system.
The blaze showed no sign of slowing its rush northeast from the Sierra Nevada forest region after doubling in size between July 9-10, Xinhua news agency quoted Inciweb as saying on Sunday.
On July 10, flames jumped US Route 395, a main highway linking Northern California and Central Valley in rural Sierra Nevada mountain region, and forced closures.
Doyle, a small town in Lassen County of California standing on highway 395, was reported being damaged by the wildfire on Sunday after the fire spread northeast for about three miles in 24 hours.
Photos posted by Craig Philpott, an independent fire reporter based in Northern California, showed that multiple structures were burning in the small town with about 600 residents.
Residents in Doyle received evacuation order on July 8, local ABC 8 news channel reported that many people had fled their homes with concerns that what happened in November last year will happen again.
Last year, the Laura 2 fire destroyed more than 40 homes and outbuildings in the town.
In a virtual community meeting on July 10, Incident Commander Rocky Opliger said that critically dry and hot temperatures, topography arrangement and southwest winds funnelling through the area affected the 1,800 firefighters’ attempts to suppress the aggressive fire.
The National Weather Service issued an Excessive Heat Warning for the area through Tuesday.
The weather forecast for Doyle on Sunday afternoon warned of 40 degrees Celsius.(IANS)