Rescue teams were working Saturday night and early Sunday to evacuate
more than 200 people
who were trapped after camping near a reservoir in Madera County, California, due to a
rapidly spreading fire.
in the zone.
Meanwhile, the state is experiencing a new intense heat wave.
Two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and a CH-47 Chinook helicopter were used to assist in the rescues and carry those who had been trapped to Fresno's Yosemite International Airport, said Brad Alexander, spokesman for the Office of Emergency Services.
Some 20 people were injured, he added, and some were taken to hospitals in the area.
Two people were left behind, refusing to be evacuated, the Madera County Sheriff's Office said.
Image taken by one of the people who were caught in a fire after camping near a reservoir in the Fresno, California area.
Dennis Drake via NBC News
The Fresno Fire Department, which is located near the reservoir, known as Mammoth Pool Reservoir, previously reported through the social network Twitter that 63 people were rescued by helicopter.
Two of them suffered serious injuries, others minor.
[Sweltering heat wave causes emergency power outages in California as fire danger rises]
"The planes are returning to continue rescue operations," added Fresno firefighters, noting that "the exact number of people still trapped is" unknown. "
["It was amazing, a whirlwind took things away": Rare California summer storms cause devastating fires]
The Madera County Sheriff's Office said earlier that there were
"approximately 150 people"
in the area
.
All of them, he added, were "safe" waiting to be evacuated.
Local Fresno Bee reports that rescued patients were flown out of the endangered area by helicopter and then to local hospitals.
Authorities are also working to evacuate Beasore Meadows, a large ranch located in the same area, the Office tweeted late Saturday.
This is the Sierra National Forest area.
The fire
ran over a river
Saturday, endangering the only road to the Mammoth Pool Reservoir campground, according to Dan Tune, a spokesman for the national forest.
On Saturday, the authorities had issued evacuation orders for residents and other people present in the area.
The Associated Press news agency assures that
at least three forest fires are
currently
worrying
the authorities because of their speed of spread.
Consequently, there were evacuation orders for a fire in the Yucaipa area, east of Los Angeles, and for another in a small town in San Diego County.
The California Department of Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said nearly
12,500 firefighters
were fighting about 22 fires in the state.
Meanwhile, temperatures in various areas of California have hit record highs.
In the San Fernando Valley, in the north of Los Angeles,
117ºF (47.7ºC)
were touched on Saturday
.
Thousands of people were evacuated by the fires in California
Aug. 19, 202002: 24
This weekend's heat wave also affects Nevada and Arizona in particular, as well as California.
The governor of this state, Democrat Gavin Newsom, declared an emergency to be able to generate more electricity, after another heat wave in August caused serious problems to the electricity grid and its users.
In a long weekend for the Labor Day holiday, in which more trips than usual are expected, there is also concern about a new increase in coronavirus infections.
Authorities fear increase in COVID-19 cases during Labor Day celebrations
Sept.
5, 202001: 46
With information from The Associated Press, Fresno Bee.