A firefighters sets a controlled burn with a drip torch while fighting the King Fire on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014, in Mosquito, Calif.PLACERVILLE, Calif. – A massive blaze in California that threatens thousands of homes has become the second-most expensive blaze to fight in the state this year, officials said Wednesday.
The King Fire east of Sacramento has cost more than $53 million since it began nearly two weeks ago, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Daniel Berlant said.
That figure ranks behind the $86 million that has been spent to tame a still-burning fire in Klamath National Forest along the California-Oregon border.
However, those figures are nowhere near the more than $127 million spent to stop the Rim Fire last year in Yosemite National Park, Berlant said.
More than 7,600 firefighters are currently battling the King Fire that has burned 145 square miles and stretched into Nevada. Flames have destroyed 12 homes, and another 21,000 structures – half of them homes – were threatened.