Devastating wildfires have been wreaking havoc across California for the last few months, and they’re not done yet. The latest development comes in the city of Weed, located in the northern portion of the state and named for a Civil War veteran who subsequently moved west and amassed a great deal of land over the course of his life. As the Los Angeles Times reports, wildfires destroyed the historically Black neighborhood of Lincoln Heights.
The Mill fire, as this latest conflagration is known, destroyed a significant number of buildings that had a long history in the community. The Times article, by Alex Wigglesworth and Julia Wick, describes a fast-moving blaze that left countless residents without their homes or possessions. According to the article, nearly 4,000 people evacuated the area.
As of this writing, the fire has also resulted in the deaths of two people.
The Times article points out that weather conditions likely contributed to the fire spreading so dramatically. Another factor was the age and composition of many of the buildings caught up in it — the wooden construction quickly caught fire.
The town’s mayor, Kim Greene, had harrowing words for the Times. “Most of the community of Lincoln Heights is gone,” Greene said in the wake of the fire. And while fires like this are tragic under any circumstances, the environmental conditions in the region likely contributed to making it that much more severe.
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