SHAVER LAKE, Calif. -- More than 200 people were airlifted to safety after a fast-moving wildfire trapped them in a popular camping area in California's Sierra National Forest.
The California Office of Emergency Services said Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters were used for the rescues that began Saturday night and continued overnight.
At least two people were severely injured and 10 more suffered moderate injuries.
The Creek Fire exploded in size amid sweltering temperatures Saturday and chewed through extremely dry vegetation, cutting off evacuation routes to Mammoth Pool Reservoir.
The area northeast of Fresno is a popular weekend getaway.
Wildfires, excessive heat and maybe blackouts in California
The managers of California’s power grid are warning there could be rolling blackouts if customers don’t conserve energy.
Exceptionally high temperatures are driving the highest power use of the year and transmission losses due to wildfires have cut into supplies.
Eric Schmitt of the California Independent System Operator said up to 3 million customers could lose power for up to four hours Sunday evening.
He said where those outages occur are up to local utilities.
The Creek Fire in the Sequoia National Forest in central California and another fire in Southern California have knocked out transmission lines that carry about 1,600 megawatts of electricity.
