Carr Fire: PG&E worker killed in accident, death toll rises to seven

Aug. 06--A seventh life has been lost in connection with the devastating and growing Carr Fire, as a utility worker died in an accident Saturday afternoon while working in a remote part of Shasta County.

Jairus Ayeta, a 21-year-old apprentice lineman with Pacific Gas and Electric, was performing electric power restoration work when he "sustained fatal injuries involving a vehicle accident," according to Melissa Subbotin, a PG&E spokeswoman.

Further details were not immediately available, but Subbotin said the utility is working with authorities to investigate the incident.

By Sunday evening, the Carr Fire had charred 160,049 acres and destroyed 1,604 structures, including more than 1,000 homes. The fire was 43 percent contained as of Sunday afternoon, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire.

Two firefighters have been killed, along with Ayeta and four other people since the fire began nearly two weeks ago.

The blaze, burning in Shasta and Trinity counties, is the sixth-most destructive in the state's history, according to Cal Fire.

The Tubbs Fire -- which sparked in October 2017 in Sonoma County, destroyed 5,636 structures and killed 22 people -- was the state's most destructive blaze in its history.

Meanwhile, more federal aid will be on the way to assist with the Carr Fire impacts, as President Donald Trump approved Gov. Jerry Brown's request for Presidential Major Disaster Declaration for Shasta County late Saturday, Brown's office announced.

"This is part of a trend -- a new normal -- that we've got to deal with. We're dealing with it humanly, financially and governmentally," Brown said of wildfires while at the Carr Fire Incident Command Post in Shasta County Saturday. "These kinds of horrible situations bring people together, regardless of the lesser kind of ideologies and partisan considerations."

Brown also requested the same declarations be ordered by the president for Lake, Mendocino and Napa counties Saturday due to effects from the Mendocino Complex fires and other recent wildfires. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, is reviewing the requests for Lake, Mendocino and Napa counties "on an expedited basis," Brown's office said.

The Ranch Fire -- one of two separate fires that comprise the Mendocino Complex -- nearly doubled in size over the past two days, ripping through large swaths of the Mendocino National Forest, said Tricia Austin, a fire spokesperson.

The Ranch Fire had consumed 207,319 acres as of Sunday morning, with 23 percent containment. It has exploded in growth since Friday morning, when it was reported to have burned 112,226 acres.

Dry, hot conditions were driving the blazes, with afternoon winds stoking the flames, Austin said.

The River and Ranch fires combined have destroyed 130 structures, including 68 homes, while damaging 26 other structures and homes. Together, they have chewed through 254,982 acres of land, and were 33 percent contained as of Sunday morning, Cal Fire said.

More than 8,000 firefighters and crew members were working to suppress the Mendocino Complex fires and the Carr Fire.

Near Yosemite National Park, the Ferguson Fire, which has burned since July 13, scorched another 7,934 acres overnight for a total of 89,633 acres.

More than 2,700 firefighters and crew were battling the Ferguson Fire as of Sunday morning, and the blaze was 35 percent contained.

That blaze has killed two firefighters and injured 11 people, while destroying 10 structures. Yosemite National Park officials have closed portions of the park including Yosemite Valley, Wawona Road, and the Mariposa and Merced groves of giant sequoias, as a result of the fire.

While those large-scale blazes continued to scorch massive areas of land, a smaller fire sparked in the hills of unincorporated Alameda County, east of Sunol Regional Wilderness. The Creek Fire, which ignited Saturday afternoon, was 100 percent contained at 30 acres as of 4 p.m. Sunday.

One firefighter suffered a minor burn while battling the blaze, Cal Fire Battalion Chief Dwight Good said. The cause of the fire was still being investigated.

Good said about 15 homes were threatened, and a short-lived evacuation was issued Saturday night. No homes or structures were damaged.

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