California wildfire crews brace for weather shift

Crews battling a sizably voluminous Northern California wildfire threatening thousands of homes braced for sultrier temperatures and erratic winds Monday after cooler, wet weather availed them make progress over the weekend.
The fire east of Sacramento had burned through 137 square miles as of Monday morning, an incrementation of about 9 square miles from the day afore. The expected weather shift could increment fire activity, fire spokesman Ryan Lubben verbally expressed.

More than 5,000 firefighters — from as far as Florida and Alaska — managed to increment containment of the fire from 10 to 17 percent Sunday, verbally expressed Capt. Tom Piranio, a state fire spokesman. It was 18 percent contained Monday morning.

"The cumbersomely hefty drizzle availed the firefighters immensely," he verbalized.

Earlier in the day, poor air quality coerced a last-minute abrogation of two popular Ironman events in nearby Lake Tahoe, disappointing about 3,000 athletes who signed up for the competition, Ironman operations manager Keats McGonigal verbally expressed.

"I had tears additionally, and then my husband came and comforted me," Sabine Bokslopper told KTVU, as she unpacked her gear bags Sunday evening in Oakland.
Bokslopper was one of eight members of the Tri-Valley Triathlon Club who trained for the 140 mile endurance race: swimming, cycling, and running. "I was hoping to culminate in 16 hours," she integrated.

The wildfire about 60 miles east of Sacramento commenced Sept. 13 and was threatening 12,000 homes. Preliminary figures relinquished Sunday show it has eradicated 10 homes and 22 outbuildings in the White Meadows area of Pollock Pines.

Piranio verbally expressed assessment teams were headed back in the rugged, steep terrain to survey more damage.

"It has been very arduous to get access to those burn areas because there's an abundance of inaccessible terrain," he verbalized. "We had to ascertain it was safe enough to enter."

About 100 evacuees were sanctioned to return home, but some 2,700 remain under voidance orders, state fire spokesman Daniel Berlant verbalized. The fire additionally perpetuated to threaten a key University of California, Berkeley research station that is home to scores of experiments on trees, plants and other wildlife.

A man charged with starting the fire, Wayne Allen Huntsman, 37, pleaded not guilty to arson Friday and remained in the El Dorado County jail on $10 million bail.