MORE than a dozen California firefighters trying to protect a fire station in rugged mountains were overrun by flames on Tuesday, leaving several injured.
14 firefighters deployed emergency shelters as flames overtook them and destroyed the Nacimiento Station in the Los Padres National Forest on the state’s central coast, the US Forest Service said.
They suffered from burns and smoke inhalation, and three were flown to a hospital in Fresno, where one was in a critical condition.
The injuries came as more than two dozen major fires chewed through bone-dry California and forced new evacuations after a scorching weekend that saw an airlift of more than 200 people.
Pilots wearing night-vision goggles to find a place to land before dawn pulled another 164 people from the Sierra National Forest and were working to rescue 17 others on Tuesday, governor Gavin Newsom said.
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“It’s where training meets the moment, but it always takes the courage, the conviction and the grit of real people doing real work,” Newsom said.
California has already set a record with nearly 2.3 million acres burned this year, and the worst part of the wildfire season is just beginning.
The previous acreage record was set just two years ago and included the deadliest wildfire in state history, which was started by power lines and swept through the town of Paradise, killing 85 people.
More than 14,000 firefighters were battling fires around the state.
Two of the three largest blazes in state history are burning in the San Francisco Bay Area, though they are largely contained after burning for three weeks.
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