Hundreds Evacuated In Butte County As Blaze Nears

UPDATED: 8:12 pm PDT July 8, 2008 BUTTE COUNTY, Calif. -- Residents were evacuated from towns in Butte County as a heat wave hampered firefighters' efforts to battle hundreds of active California wildfires. In Butte County, winds of up to 30 mph are fanning flames, forcing firefighters to go door to door ordering the evacuation of between 800 and 1,000 residents from the towns of Concow, where five structures have been destroyed, and Yankee Hill, about 85 miles north of Sacramento. They also ordered evacuations in the nearby town of Paradise, where a fire destroyed 74 homes last month. Many of the fires were ignited by a lightning storm more than two weeks ago. Meanwhile, residents of Big Sur are checking on their homes after authorities lifted a mandatory evacuation order for most of the coastline near their community.... [read full story]