Fire keeps California north-south highway closed for 3rd day
But the main highway between
Drivers fled in terror and several big-rigs burned Wednesday as the Delta Fire erupted on both sides of the artery. Crews managed to remove the burned hulks and abandoned rigs on Thursday but flames continued to burn along an edge of the road in some areas, fire spokesman
A decision was expected Friday on whether to reopen the highway but first authorities had to check the safety of the pavement and cut down burned trees next to the road — some of them 70 feet tall — that might be in danger of falling down.
The Delta Fire had burned more than 34 square miles (89 square kilometers) of timber and brush and prompted evacuation orders for scattered homes and buildings in three counties in and around the
Although the fire wasn't burning near any large towns, Vacarro said about 280 homes were considered threatened. There were some reports that homes had burned but Vacarro could only confirm that an outbuilding and two mixed-use commercial and residential buildings had been damaged.
"It could be like a bed-and-breakfast, it could be a store with a house above it," he explained.
Meanwhile, truckers who rely heavily on the
"The road is essentially all two lanes on that journey and there's some steep hills on there as well so obviously slow-moving trucks going up and down the hill is making it hard to travel," Vacarro said.
Patience was running thin at the Pilot Travel Center in the town of
"It's been ridiculously congested. It's been frantic," Chapman said. "A lot of the truckers are upset. They're just stuck, they can't get through and they're sick of waiting around."
"The general mood is just tired and upset. The truckers are exhausted and just want to get going. And the locals just want a break from the wildfires," Chapman said.
"We want our towns to stop being on fire," he added.
The unrelenting flames have drained
The deadly
Victims have filed more than 10,000 insurance claims so far, totaling
"The worst may be yet to come," Jones warned at a
Last year, for example, wildfires that killed more than 40 people and destroyed thousands of buildings in counties north of
Also on Thursday, the director of the state's firefighting agency said in a letter to lawmakers that the agency only had about
The department had spent
Elias reported from
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News