By — Courtney Norris Courtney Norris Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/80000-people-evacuated-california-wildfire Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter More than 80,000 people evacuated from California wildfire Nation Aug 17, 2016 12:41 PM EDT More than 80,000 people have been evacuated from their homes as a wildfire continues to blaze in Southern California. The fire in San Bernardino County has consumed more than 30,000 acres, double from the previous day, the New York Times reported. The so-called Blue Cut Fire has closed Interstate 15, the main highway between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. California Gov. Edmund Brown Jr. has issued a state of emergency for the county. “The circumstances of this fire by reason of its magnitude, are or are likely to be beyond the control of the services, personnel, equipment, and facilities of any single local government and require the combined forces of a mutual aid region or regions to combat,” he said in Tuesday’s statement. A second major wildfire further north in California, the Soberanes Fire in Monterey County has grown to more than 76,000 acres but is 60 percent contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection: #SoberanesFire [update] near Big Sur (Monterey County) is now 76,683 acres & 60% contained. https://t.co/FJ5RyubWl6 pic.twitter.com/6HexPtlOdI — CAL FIRE (@CAL_FIRE) August 17, 2016 Before Wednesday, firefighters already were battling eight large wildfires across the state. We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now By — Courtney Norris Courtney Norris Courtney Norris is the deputy senior producer of national affairs for the NewsHour. She can be reached at cnorris@newshour.org or on Twitter @courtneyknorris @courtneyknorris
More than 80,000 people have been evacuated from their homes as a wildfire continues to blaze in Southern California. The fire in San Bernardino County has consumed more than 30,000 acres, double from the previous day, the New York Times reported. The so-called Blue Cut Fire has closed Interstate 15, the main highway between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. California Gov. Edmund Brown Jr. has issued a state of emergency for the county. “The circumstances of this fire by reason of its magnitude, are or are likely to be beyond the control of the services, personnel, equipment, and facilities of any single local government and require the combined forces of a mutual aid region or regions to combat,” he said in Tuesday’s statement. A second major wildfire further north in California, the Soberanes Fire in Monterey County has grown to more than 76,000 acres but is 60 percent contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection: #SoberanesFire [update] near Big Sur (Monterey County) is now 76,683 acres & 60% contained. https://t.co/FJ5RyubWl6 pic.twitter.com/6HexPtlOdI — CAL FIRE (@CAL_FIRE) August 17, 2016 Before Wednesday, firefighters already were battling eight large wildfires across the state. We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now