United States: A fast-moving wildfire has swept through the historic Gold Rush town of Chinese Camp in Northern California, forcing residents to flee and leaving homes in ashes.
The blaze erupted Tuesday in the Sierra Nevada foothills after a burst of lightning strikes set off more than 20 fires across Calaveras, Tuolumne, and Stanislaus counties. By Wednesday, the flames had already burned more than 19 square miles with no containment in sight.
Chinese Camp — once a bustling hub in the 1850s where thousands of Chinese miners settled after being pushed out of nearby camps — now faces the threat of losing its few surviving Gold Rush-era landmarks, including an old post office and a Roman Catholic church, according to the reports.
At least five homes were destroyed, and residents scrambled to protect what they could. Outside one property, seven people worked through the night with shovels and sand to stop the fire from spreading until firefighters arrived.
Roughly 100 residents were ordered to evacuate, and a key highway that connects San Francisco to Yosemite National Park was shut down.
Cal Fire officials warned that more fires could still be smoldering unseen and that evacuations may grow as triple-digit heat and dry conditions continue, as reported.
Chinese Camp today is little more than a stopover for Yosemite-bound travelers, but its history runs deep. Once called Camp Washington, it was renamed after thousands of Chinese immigrants, who despite facing heavy discrimination and punishing mining taxes, built a community there during the Gold Rush.