Helicopters Rescue Over 200 Trapped In California Wildfire

Los Angeles, Sept 6 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Sep, 2020 ) :More than 200 people were airlifted to safety after being trapped by a fast-moving wildfire near a popular recreation area in northern California, officials said Sunday.

The evacuees climbed aboard military helicopters after the blaze, in bone-dry conditions, cut off ground escape routes from Mammoth Pool Reservoir in the Sierra National Forest, about 45 miles (70 kilometers) northeast of Fresno.

Flames moved in so fast that at one point people were advised to "shelter in place" -- in the reservoir itself if need be.

"Simply extraordinary, lifesaving work by the @CalGuard airlifting more than 200 people to safety overnight from the imminent danger of the #CreekFire," army General Daniel Hokanson, chief of the National Guard Bureau, said on Twitter.

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