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<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on"><b><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-weight:bold'>TRINITY</span></font></b></st1:PlaceName><b><font
size=4><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-weight:bold'> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">COUNTY</st1:PlaceType></span></font></b></st1:place><b><font
size=4><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-weight:bold'> <br>
Historic town out of danger <br>
Crews get handle on Weaverville blaze</span></font></b><b><font size=6><span
style='font-size:24.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=1 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:7.5pt'><a
href="mailto:dbulwa@sfchronicle.com">Demian Bulwa, Chronicle Staff Writer</a></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=1 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:7.5pt'>Tuesday, August 1,
2006</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><a
href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/08/01/BAGFLK8U561.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea">http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/08/01/BAGFLK8U561.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2006/08/01/BAGFLK8U561.DTL&o=0"><span
style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=64 height=64
id="_x0000_i1025" src="cid:image001.gif@01C6B610.F9F65440" vspace=1
alt="Ron Fisher (right) of Weaverville thanks Shasta County fi..."></span></a><a
href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2006/08/01/BAGFLK8U561.DTL&o=1"><span
style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=64 height=64
id="_x0000_i1026" src="cid:image002.gif@01C6B610.F9F65440" vspace=1
alt="Area Burned in the Junction Fire. Chronicle graphic by Jo..."></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><font
size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold'>(08-01)
04:00 PDT Weaverville, Trinity County</span></font></b><font size=2><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'> -- Firefighters were on their way Monday to
surrounding flames that reached to the edge of this historic gold-mining town,
bringing relief to 3,500 residents who survived a blaze five years ago that
swept through some of the same rugged hills and canyons. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>"Everything
went really well overnight," Jason Martin, a spokesman for the California
Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said Monday. "The winds died
down, and the fire followed suit. That let firefighters put a stranglehold on
this nasty little sucker." </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>The Junction Fire
was 70 percent contained Monday night after burning 3,126 acres over two days.
Evacuation orders were lifted and a downtown lined with buildings listed on the
National Register of Historic Places was no longer threatened. Full containment
was expected by this evening. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Less than a mile
west of the downtown strip, three firefighters from <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Shasta</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
were stationed outside the hillside home of Ron Fisher, a 49-year-old plumber,
when they got a call at 10 a.m. Monday. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>"We've been
reassigned," firefighter Rob Leal, 28, told Fisher, indicating the danger
had passed. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Fisher lost his
home in 2001 to the Oregon Fire, which destroyed nine houses, prompted a
citywide evacuation and led firefighters to form a wall around Weaverville's
downtown. After a few months, Fisher and a longtime friend and neighbor agreed
that they would both rebuild, using fire-resistant roofs and concrete siding. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>"I never
thought this would happen again," Fisher said. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>The area around
his house, once thick with fir, pine and oak trees, is less fire-friendly now.
The 2001 blaze took out much of the timber, and some of the remaining trees are
burned skeletons. Martin said firefighters had been helped in recent days by
the lack of fuel. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>The Junction Fire
started just outside <st1:City w:st="on">Junction City</st1:City> along Highway
299, which connects <st1:City w:st="on">Redding</st1:City> and <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Eureka</st1:place></st1:City> and was temporarily closed. The fire's
cause is not yet known. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>The blaze burned
east over <st1:State w:st="on">Oregon</st1:State> <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Summit</st1:place></st1:City> toward Weaverville, sending up smoke
that filled the air nearly 100 miles away. By Monday evening, the fire had
destroyed one structure and had cost an estimated $2.3 million to fight. Four
firefighters had suffered minor injuries. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>The forestry
department said a blaze that gutted a downtown restaurant Saturday evening was
unrelated to the wildfire, though many residents said they suspected an ember
from that fire had dropped from the sky and done the job. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Weaverville,
founded by gold miners in 1850, has quite a fire history -- most of it ancient.
A plaque outside the red-brick New York Hotel building states that it
"burned in the town fire of 1859" and "was gutted by the big
fire of 1863." </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Some downtown
structures are built to collapse in a fire, the idea being to smother a blaze
before it can spread. And since the 2001 fire, many residents have kept
valuables packed together to prepare for quick evacuation. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Jan Saxon, 46,
bought the Weaverville Drug Store in January, when it was the oldest active
pharmacy in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>.
She renovated the building and converted it into a flower, candy and gift shop
called Kudos, betting that lightning would not strike twice in five years. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>"We figured
it wasn't going to burn for another 100 years," Saxon said of Weaverville.
"Once the downtown goes, there's nothing here." </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><i><font
size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-style:italic'>E-mail
Demian Bulwa at <a href="mailto:dbulwa@sfchronicle.com">dbulwa@sfchronicle.com</a>.</span></font></i><font
size=2><span style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Page B - 3<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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