NAPA, Calif., Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Fire officials have evacuated hundreds of people from their homes as wildfires raged through Northern California and Montana.
A Napa Fire Department spokesman said 130 homes have been evacuated near two fires that have razed nearly 51,000 acres in the area surrounding Weaverville, Calif., and 260 other homes were put on a 48-hour alert to be prepared for possible evacuation, USA Today reported Friday.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Forest Service said 325 homes have been emptied as the massive Jungle Fire expanded to encompass 32,000 acres.
Rain and snow assisted firefighters in Montana Thursday but cooler weather in California failed to comfort those battling fires in the north. Rick Ochoa, weather program manager for the National Interagency Fire Center, said the fire season in California could last into December.
"What we really need for California is a good, strong, soaking rain over that area, and we don't see that occurring," he said.
The fire center said the 2006 season has been the worst seen by the United States in nearly 50 years in terms of acres burned.
