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TheAssociatedPress BURNEY Humid condi- tions gave crews hope in their battle against two wildfires in Northern Cal- ifornia that have scorched more than 100 square miles and are menacing a small town on Monday, at a time when firefighters in Oregon and Washington state also aim to combat destructive blazes. The blazes raged mostly uncontrolled within miles of each other, and the worst of the two has burned eight homes and threatened over 700 more, state fire spokes- woman Capt. Amy Head said. Plus, residents in the town of Burney in Shasta County face possible evac- uation. "Right now we're con- tinuing to put in contain- ment lines to box in the fires as they are growing at such an explosive rate," Head said. "We also want to make sure that if there are any evacuation notices, that the residents will listen to what officials are saying and heed the warning." In downtown Burney, where there was some road closures, residents on Mon- day went about normal ac- tivities with flames and smoke as backdrop. A day earlier, the fires prompted officials at Mayer Memorial Hospital to evac- uate their 49-bed annex for patients with dementia and other conditions requiring skilled nursing. The patients were trans- ferred to a hospital in Red- ding, about 55 miles away, according to the hospital's website. The two fires, which be- gan within a day of each other in Lassen National Forest and had expanded into private property, were burning through timber and brush parched by California's historic drought. They were among about a dozen fires that had burned some 209 square miles across the state and that more than 7,500 federal and state firefighters bat- tled, Head said. Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency on Saturday, saying the circumstances and magnitude of the wild- fires were beyond the con- trol of any single local gov- ernment and required the combined forces of regions to combat. While firefighters hoped to take advantage of the hu- mid conditions in Northern California, they also faced red flag warnings as possi- ble thunderstorms were ex- pected Monday. The storms could bring more fire-caus- ing lightning, Head said. Meanwhile, a major wild- fire in the Siskiyou Moun- tains along the Oregon-Cal- ifornia border has slowed as temperatures cooled, but it still jeopardizes 270 resi- dences after burning six scattered rural homes. Firefighters on Monday got a handle on the blaze 15 miles east of Ashland that scorched 72 square miles — 57 of them in Oregon and the rest in California. Some evacuation warnings remained in force. Overall, nine large fires were burning across 118 square miles of forest and rangeland in Oregon, most of them east of the Cascade Range. Three of them were nearly fully contained. In Washington state, a wind-whipped blaze de- stroyed about a dozen structures and prompted an evacuation notice for about 80 homes in Kitti- tas County. Other residents have been told to be ready to leave, said Jill Beedle, a spokeswoman for the Kitti- tas County Emergency Op- erations Center. It's unknown if the struc- tures that burned were full- time residences, summer cabins or outbuildings. NORTHERN CALIFORNIA Wildfiresmenacehomesin3Westernstates MARCIOJOSESANCHEZ—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Tracy Porter, of Paradise, uses an axe to fragment a burning tree damaged by the Eiler Fire on Monday in the Lassen National Park near Hat Creek. By Brian Melley The Associated Press MOUNT BALDY When the skies opened up with a ven- geance, Michael Honer had a front row seat to the pow- erful forces of Mother Na- ture. In a house overlooking Bear Creek in the tiny town of Mount Baldy, he watched the stream flow for the first time in two years. At first, it carried only leaves. By the time the rain stopped an hour later, the flow had carried away logs, rocks and even cars, sweeping a driver to his death. "The stream was a raging black torrent of debris and big logs and muddy, silty water," Honer said Monday as he shoveled mud outside a friend's house above the creek. "It was apocalyptic." Flash floods in the South- ern California mountains Sunday afternoon stranded thousands of people, de- stroyed several cars and damaged about 30 homes, including a dozen that were uninhabitable in the tiny communities of Mount Baldy and Forest Falls. Roads to both places were ruled by bulldozers and other heavy equipment working under sunny skies Monday to clear mud and rocky debris. Crews were assessing damage and de- termining whether water was safe to drink in Mount Baldy. Downpours punctuated with thunder and lightning dumped nearly 5 inches on Mount Baldy and as much as 3 inches on Forest Falls some 50 miles away, the National Weather Ser- vice said. Those who witnessed the flash flooding up close described a roar as waters surged down the moun- tains. George Smith of San Di- ego had been hiking up Mount San Gorgonio with a friend when they came to a wash that had been dry earlier in the day. "We were just kind of de- ciding should we make a go of it, to cross or not, when there was a 10-foot high wall of water and debris and logs coming toward us," he said. "It sounded like thunder coming down the river. Me and my friend had to scramble up a cliff to get out of the way of it." He and 12 other hik- ers huddled together and called 911. When the opera- tor asked for a cross street they had to explain that they were in the forest. A woman who lives near For- est Falls lit a fire in her fire- place and let them dry out. Nearly 2,500 people, in- cluding a group of about 500 campers who spent the night at a community cen- ter near Forest Falls, were stranded in the woodsy communities until roads reopened Monday. San Bernardino County resources were stretched thin by the storm. Scores of swift-water rescue teams and fire engines had been dispatched to far-flung ar- eas, county Fire Capt. Josh Wilkins said. In the Ange- les National Forest, a group of four or five people and a dog were airlifted to safety. In Mount Baldy, home to a small ski area, dozens of mud-covered volunteers pitched in to dig out homes and cars inundated with dirt and rock. The most significant damage was on Goat Hill Road, where a landslide buried some homes up to their roofs. Gloria Flickinger found a river of rock had flowed into her backyard, burying her rear entrance nearly 2 feet in muck. Her garage basement with laundry and school supplies for her special education class was flooded in ankle-deep wa- ter. "I almost had a heart at- tack when I came home," she said. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Fl as h flo od s da ma ge m or e th an 3 0 ho me s in s ou th s ta te BRIAN MELLEY — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Debris and rocks are piled up outside a cabin in Bear Canyon in Mount Baldy on Monday a er thunderstorms Sunday caused mountain mudslides in Southern California. Kids10&UnderFREEintheGrandstand•TicketsIncludeDanceatColusaCasinoResort(Mustbe21+) ColusaCountyFairgrounds Saturday, August 16 th , 2014 Gates Open at 6pm 40MilesSouthofChico•www.colusacasino.com | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM TUESDAY, AUGUST 5, 2014 8 A