Fire And Water: California Fire Devastates, Then Flash Flooding Makes It Worse

In this photo from the Siskiyou, California County Sheriff's
office, this truck was swept away by flash flooding and 
debris flows near the giant McKinney fire. The man
inside the truck was injured but will recover. 

 This seems to be the summer of fire and flood. 

Wildfires are causing death and destruction from Oregon to Texas. Flash floods are causing even more death and destruction from Arizona to Virginia. 

And, at least in one case now, we have both. 

You've probably seen on the news the McKinney fire in northern California, not far from the Oregon border.  Four people are known dead from the fire, it burned numerous homes and other buildings and covered 57,000 acres since it started a week ago. 

Finally, it rained quite a bit over the fire area over the past day or two. Normally that's great news, and in part, it is. The downpours have quelled the flames somewhat. The fire is not out, and not really under control or contained But at least it's more manageable. The wildfire isn't as wild as it was, for now anyway. 

But, since it's a summer of extremes, it couldn't just drizzle on the fire for a few days. No, we had to have intense thunderstorms that dumped up to three inches of rain on some spots. 

According to the Redding (California) Record Searchlight, the downpours caused flash flooding,  debris flows and rock slides that caused damage and injured one private contractor firefighter. when the truck he was in was carried away then became stuck in the mud. Thankfully, his injuries aren't that bad and he's expected to recover just fine. 

Video on Twitter showed several trucks stuck in a flash flood in the McKinney fire zone with one man who scrambled onto the hood of a pickup truck to escape the water. 

Thunderstorms also produce lightning, and these storms sparked plenty of strikes. Some lightning hit areas not really affected by rain, which started new fires. 

The weather in the fire zone is forecast to turn much drier, hotter and windier over the next few days. Despite the rain and flash flooding and debris flows, this fire could easily resume its rampage. 

It's another long, hot, dangerous summer in California.