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2 firefighters injured while battling Calif. wildfire as evacuation warnings expand

One firefighter was treated for heat-related illness while another sustained a more severe injury requiring hospital care as the Green Fire grew past 10,000 acres

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U.S. Forest Service - Shasta-Trinity National Forest/Facebook

By Ishani Desai
The Sacramento Bee

REDDING, Calif. — Two firefighters suffered injuries battling Shasta County’s Green Fire, which grew about 2,000 acres overnight to 10,334 acres on Sunday, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

Lightning sparked the flames on July 1 in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. The fire, northeast of Shasta Lake, has been 5% contained as firefighters grapple with high temperatures and low humidity, according to a news release provided Sunday by the U.S. Forest Service.

Some residents have been ordered to evacuate and others have been put under evacuation warning. All evacuation orders and warnings can been seen at protect.genasys.com.

A firefighter suffered a heat-related illness while another firefighter suffered a “more severe” injury Sunday and was taken to a medical facility, said Tom Stokesberry III, a U.S. Forest Service spokesperson. A spokesperson did not immediately respond to a call seeking to know when the firefighter suffered the heat-related injury.

Two “Super Scooper” aircrafts will draw water Sunday from Shasta Lake to aid in the firefighting effort, according to the news release. Boaters should remain by the shore when these planes fly to refuel their tanks because it requires about a mile of open water to refill, the release said.

Temperatures are expected to soar past 100 degrees with humidity just reaching 15% on Sunday. Dry conditions will persist through Monday, the release said.

“All these factors contribute to the likelihood of active fire behavior,” the release said.

Smoke from the fire drifted to Sacramento and on Friday prompted the region’s first “Spare the Air” day this summer.

On Sunday, officials said the air quality will be unhealthy for the Burney and Montgomery Creek communities in Shasta County, as smoke creates hazardous conditions. The poor air quality could be dangerous for everyone, but is especially harmful for sensitive groups such as children, older adults and individuals with respiratory ailments.

“Please take care of yourself and check on those who may need extra support,” the U.S. Forest Service said on social media.

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