Rapidly-growing wildfires burn in Napa Valley, Glacier Nat'l Park
Hundreds of firefighters are battling a fast-moving wildfire in California's famed Napa Valley.
Emergency responders feared that fire would move quickly -- and it did, ballooning to thousands of acres in a matter of hours, reports CBS Station KPIX correspondent Julie Watts.
A building burned overnight near Lake Berryessa, close to where the fire started, and one home has been damaged. Hundreds of homes and other buildings are threatened.
As of Thursday morning more than 200 structures are threatened . The fire has grown to 6,000 acres in the Cold Canyon area near Highway 128, and is only five percent contained.
It's one of five major wildfires burning in the drought-parched state.
Elsewhere, quickly-growing wildfires have been burning in Montana and Washington state.
Napa Valley
Several tanker planes, along with hundreds of firefighters, are battling the hard-to-reach Wragg Fire tearing across this rural section of Northern California. Helicopters also scooped up water, one huge bucket at a time.
"Super dry vegetation, four years of droughts [are] not helping us any," CalFire Captain Joe Fletcher told CBS News. "The winds keep changing and shifting direction."
Residents in nearby communities have been evacuated.
Scott Roozer is evacuating his winter-area home. "We just grabbed the things that are important to us, our dogs," Roozer told KPIX. "And the rest is in God's hands."
According to CalFire, the wildfire may have been sparked by a car accident on Wednesday afternoon. Cell phone video captured what is thought to be the aftermath of the accident, showing a car resting in dry brush on the side of the road, overtaken by flames.
Three hikers in the area were safely rescued.
Wind guests in the early evening reached up to 31 mph and steady winds have been coming from the southwest at 21 mph.
There are 150 structures threatened by the fire, and part of Highway 128 has been closed.
Montana
A wildfire driven by gusting winds swept down Glacier National Park's most popular roadway toward a small community at the park's eastern entrance, sending visitors packing and residents scrambling to protect their homes and businesses.
Officials evacuated the small community of St. Mary and homes along nearby St. Mary Lake on Wednesday afternoon as a precaution against the approaching fire.
"We're kind of in the direct line right now," said Susan Brooke, who owns the St. Mary Glacier Park KOA. "It's raging down the ridge toward St. Mary."
Brooke said 688 people were in the campground when the fire ignited Tuesday afternoon about 6 miles east of Logan Pass. Word of the fire began to circulate as people returned from the pass and others checked the Internet, and soon the plume of smoke could be seen in the distance.
"People started to panic and started leaving immediately," she said.
One family from Missouri nearly found themselves trapped when they briefly stopped to record video of the fire.
"It was smoldering and smoking just like a normal fire," Lakota Duncan said. "As soon as we started driving, it just exploded. That's the best I can say."
Duncan's father began driving at high speed as the flames drew nearer, while Duncan yelled, "Go, Dad, Go," from the back seat and continued to record as they made their escape.
Nearly all of the campers cleared out by mid-afternoon Wednesday, only to be replaced by fire officials and law enforcement using the grounds as a staging area with the fire just over the ridge a few miles away.
By Wednesday evening, the fire had burned more than 6 square miles. It also destroyed the Baring Creek Cabin, a historic backcountry structure.
Park officials previously had evacuated the Rising Sun Motor Inn and two campgrounds. Later Wednesday, Glacier County and Blackfeet tribal authorities began the evacuations in St. Mary. The National Park Service also evacuated the St. Mary Visitor Center and administrative offices.
The scenic Going-to-the-Sun Road, which is the main alpine roadway that bisects the park, was closed for 21 of its 50 miles. On Tuesday, visitors had to leave their vehicles along the park's most popular corridor as officials shuttled them to safety. One car left behind burned.
In central Montana, Helena National Forest officials say a separate blaze has burned about 4 square miles since Tuesday and threatens homes in a rural area about 15 miles east of Townsend.
Washington
The dangerous fire weather extended to Washington state, which is also struggling with drought. About 600 firefighters on the ground and in the air attacked a wildfire that has burned one home and nearly 6 square miles of land in the southeastern part of the state near Walla Walla. It was likely human-caused, officials said.