3 Die In California Air Tanker Crash

Fire Officials Say Blaze Threatens 200 Homes

WALKER, Calif. -- Authorities say three people are dead in the crash of an air tanker fighting a wildfire in a remote part of Northern California.

Watch Video Of The Plane Crashing

The tanker went down near Walker, according to Laura Williams, spokeswoman for the Sierra Front Interagency Dispatch Center in Minden, Nev.

Fire officials say they have grounded the two remaining air tankers and the eight helicopters that were fighting the 6,500-acre fire near the Nevada-California line about 90 miles south of Reno.

"An air tanker did go down in the Walker area east of Highway 395," Williams said. "We really have gotten very, very little information about it. Medical crews have responded. There was a fire that ensued in the grass surrounding it."

The fast-moving wildfire in Mono County forced hundreds of people out of their homes early Monday.

Fire officials said that 200 homes near the town of Walker were threatened, and that two homes have burned already.

U.S. Highway 395 was shut down northbound at junction state Route 182 and southbound at the Nevada state line.

The fire broke out Saturday. Crews said that high winds are making it tough to fight.

Walker is about 90 miles south of Reno, Nev.

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