Terrifying video shows the moment a trapped hiker was completely surrounded by flames as the Creek Fire blazed through the Sierra National...
Terrifying video shows the moment a trapped hiker was completely surrounded by flames as the Creek Fire blazed through the Sierra National Forest in California.
Jeremy Remington was one of more than 200 people who were eventually airlifted from the Mammoth Pool area to Fresno area hospitals.
'We are completely trapped,' Remington said in the brief clip. 'There's fire on all sides, all around us. All the roads are burnt.'
As Remington pans the camera, flames can be seen sweeping over acres.
Jeremy Remington was airlifted from the Mammoth Pool area as the Creek Fire blazed through the Fresno area
The Creek Fire was first sparked on Friday evening and quickly exploded to 143,929 acres as of midday Tuesday.
That fire is currently zero percent contained and is being fought by almost 1,000 firefighters as it encroaches on the communities of Shaver Lake, Big Creek and Huntington Lake.
In addition to the Lake Edison campers, the Creek Fire trapped another 214 people over the weekend, who had to be rescued by helicopter after the roads were blocked.
'We are completely trapped,' Remington said in the brief clip. 'There's fire on all sides, all around us. All the roads are burnt'
14,100 firefighters were battling 25 separate blazes in California
Beginning on Saturday night and continuing through Sunday morning, a Black Hawk helicopter and a large Chinook helicopter flew the 214 people to the National Guard base at the Fresno Yosemite International Airport.
The two aircraft conducted three lifts from the Mammoth Pool Reservoir along the Fresno/Madera County border, the National Guard said.
Video showed weary hikers stepping off a Chinook chopper at the Fresno Yosemite International Airport with camping gear in tow after 46 people and four dogs were rescued from Lake Edison. One of the hikers offered applause to the National Guard members who carried out the mission.
Creek Fire first sparked on Friday and has destroyed more than 140,000 acres
Wind and flames leap high in the air as firefighters attempt to put out the Creek Fire off of Camp Sierra Roa
In California, 14,100 firefighters were battling 25 separate blazes, which have collectively burned more than two million acres and left 172,000 people without power during a record heat wave in the drought-stricken state.
On the southern end of the state, Los Angeles County set an all-time temperature record of 121 degrees on Sunday, during a historic Labor Day weekend heat wave.
California Governor Gavin Newsom on Sunday night declared a state of emergency as his hard-hit state struggled to beat back the blazes.
California has seen 900 wildfires since August 15, many of them started by an intense series of thousands of lightning strikes in mid-August. There have been eight fire deaths and more than 3,300 structures destroyed.
Some 46 people were rescued from Lake Edison as the fire blazed
In southern California, the El Dorado wildfire was sparked on Saturday by a gender reveal photoshoot, when the pyrotechnical smoke device sent sparks into the bone-dry brush.
The fire has burned 10,574 acres so far, and is only 16 percent contained.
More than 520 firefighters are involved in attempts to stop the spread of the fire, near San Bernardino.
The fire started on Saturday at 10.23am, the authorities said, and 527 people from 10 fire crews are currently trying to halt the fire's progress.
It spread from the El Dorado Ranch Park north, onto the Yucaipa Ridge. The ridge separates Mountain Home Village and Forest Falls from the City of Yucaipa.
The fire spread rapidly north from where it started at the El Dorado Ranch Park north, onto the Yucaipa Ridge
The fire spread from the El Dorado Ranch Park north, onto the Yucaipa Ridge and into the San Bernardino National Forest
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