2 people transported with injuries after crash in Rancho Cordova, officials say

THIS IS KCRA THREE NEWS AT FOUR. A WILDFIRE IN PLACER COUNTY AND A GROUP OF YOUNG BACKPACKERS GOT CAUGHT NEAR THE FLAMES. HOW? RESCUE CREWS TRACKED THEM DOWN AND BROUGHT THEM TO SAFETY. AND IT LOOKS LIKE WE’RE CATCHING A BRIEF BREAK FROM THE HEAT, BUT THERE’S MORE HEAT AHEAD. I’LL LET YOU KNOW. JUST HOW MUCH WARMER IS GOING TO GET IN THE WEEK COMING UP. THREE PEOPLE KILLED BY DROWNING IN ONE WEEK IN STANISLAUS COUNTY. THE DANGERS IN THE WATER RIGHT NOW. PRESIDENT BIDEN DOUBLING DOWN HIS MESSAGE TO DEMOCRATIC LAWMAKERS AS MORE OF THEM PUSH TO GET HIM OUT OF THE RACE. A GROUP OF YOUNG BACKPACKERS ARE SAFE WITH THEIR FAMILIES. TONIGHT. THEY WERE CAUGHT NEAR A WILDFIRE IN PLACER COUNTY. THIS IS THE MOMENT THE RESCUE HELICOPTER SPOTTED THAT GROUP. I THOUGHT IT WAS GOING TO BE FINE. LIKE WE WERE LIKE, HEY, LET’S STAY HERE, BLAH BLAH. BUT YEAH, WE WE LEFT. THANK GOD WE DID. 13 PEOPLE IN THAT GROUP, ALL OF THEM ARE BETWEEN 16 AND 19 YEARS OLD. THANKS FOR BEING WITH US AT FOUR. I’M TY STEELE AND I’M BRITTANY HOPE KCRA 3’S MICHELLE BANDUR IS LIVE IN SODA SPRINGS. AT THE INCIDENT COMMAND CENTER. MICHELLE, YOU CAN ONLY IMAGINE THE RELIEF NOT JUST FOR THE HIKERS, BUT ALSO THEIR PARENTS, THEIR YOUNG. OH, BRITTANY. YES, A HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF FROM THE PARENTS AND THE HIKERS, OF COURSE, ARE RELIEF AS WELL TO BE AWAY FROM THE ROYAL FIRE. BUT SOME OF THOSE TEENS TOLD ME THEY’RE REALLY DISAPPOINTED BECAUSE THEY COULDN’T FINISH THEIR FOUR DAY CAMPING TRIP, THAT THEY’VE PLANNED FOR SO LONG. NOW, HERE AT THE INCIDENT COMMAND CENTER, YOU KNOW, THE PARENTS CAME HERE TO WAIT AND ALSO AFTER THAT, THEY FOUND OUT THAT THE PLACER COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPUTIES, YOU KNOW, KNEW SOMETHING WAS WRONG WHEN THEY THEY WERE DOING SWEEPS OF THE ROYAL FIRE AND FOUND THAT THEIR CARS WERE PARKED AROUND 8:00 LAST NIGHT. NOW, LET’S GO TO THIS VIDEO. WE WERE THERE WHEN THOSE HIKERS ARRIVED ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE PALISADES TAHOE TRAIL, AND FROM WHERE THEY HAD PARKED AND WENT IN ON SUNDAY. MOST OF THE PARENTS SAY THEY COULDN’T SIT AND WAIT AT THE COMMAND CENTER AND STARTED HIKING IN THEMSELVES. ONCE THEY KNEW THE DEPUTIES SPOTTED THE HIKERS FROM THE HELICOPTER JUST AFTER SEVEN THIS MORNING, THEY COULDN’T WAIT TO COOL OFF AND THEY JUMPED IN THE CASCADE LAKE AND AFTER THEIR NIGHT OF HIKING AND ESCAPING THE ROYAL FIRE, NOW ONE OF THE OLDER TEENS KNEW THE AREA AND KNEW HOW TO GET AWAY FROM THE FLAMES SO THEY STARTED HIKING THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION AND ENDED UP HERE, MUCH TO THE RELIEF OF, AS WE SAID, OF THE RESCUERS AND THE PARENTS. IT WAS PRETTY SCARY TO SEE IT. AND THEN WHEN THEY BROUGHT IN LIKE THE THE PLANE, THAT’S LIKE HEAT SENSORS AND THEY WERE FLYING IT AROUND AND SEEING ALL THOSE CIRCLES AND THE LOOPS, BECAUSE YOU CAN TRACK IT AND IT’S LIKE THEY’RE NOT FINDING THEM. AND THEN IT’S LIKE, OKAY, WE GOT TO GO BACK THE NEXT DAY. SO THAT’S WHEN IT WAS KIND OF LIKE STAYED UP ALL NIGHT JUST WORRYING ABOUT MY SON AND ALL THE OTHER BOYS. THESE GUYS HAVE ALL GROWN UP WITH EACH OTHER, SO THEY’RE ALL ARDEN PARK KIDS. WHEN WE WERE CLOSE TO IT, IT WAS A BIT LIKE THINKING ALL THE POSSIBILITIES THAT COULD HAPPEN. I WAS GOING TO GO UNDERNEATH THE WATERFALL AND LIKE SET UP CAMP THERE. YEAH, THEY WERE LOOKING FOR OPTIONS AND YOU KNOW, THEY WERE ABLE TO GET TO SAFETY. OF COURSE, MICHAEL AND SOME OF THE OTHER TEENS TOLD ME THEY ACTUALLY SLEPT FOR A LITTLE BIT LAST NIGHT, BUT THEY COULDN’T WAIT TO GET HOME, GET IN THEIR OWN BEDS, TAKE A NAP. AND ALSO, MICHAEL SAYS HE WANTED SOME IN AND OUT. UM, THEY WERE PREPARED. THE THE GROUP OF HIKERS. THEY DID HAVE A SATELLITE PHONE, BUT THEY TELL ME FOR SOME REASON THEIR MESSAGES WEREN’T GOING OUT AND THE PARENTS MESSAGES TO THE KIDS WEREN’T GOING IN. AND SO THE PARENTS WERE PRETTY UPSET ABOUT THAT BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, THEY TAKE THEY’VE TAKEN THIS TRIP THE PAST THREE YEARS AND THEY SAID THEY ALWAYS HAVE THAT SATELLITE PHONE AS A BACKUP TO KNOW THAT THEY’RE OKAY. UM, AS THE PARENTS SAID, THESE KIDS HAVE KNOWN EACH OTHER GROWN UP IN THAT NEIGHBORHOOD TOGETHER. SOME EVEN WENT TO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TOGETHER. SO A GROUP, A TIGHT KNIT GROUP HERE REALLY TRUST EACH OTHER AND ALL JUST SO RELIEVED AND HAPPY THAT THEY ARE SAFE NOW. REPORTING LIVE IN SODA SPRINGS, MICHELLE BANDUR KCRA THREE NEWS. TALK ABOUT A TRIP THEY’LL NEVER FORGET. I’M JUST SO GLAD THEY’RE ALL SAFE. AND IT SOUNDS LIKE THEY WERE SUPER PREPARED, WHICH IS AWESOME. THEY’RE SO YOUNG AND THEY KIND OF KNEW EVERYTHING. MICHELLE, ARE THEY GOING TO DO THE TRIP AGAIN. ABSOLUTELY. I ASKED THE SAME QUESTION WITHOUT HESITATION. THEY SAID, OF COURSE WE ARE. AND I WANT TO TELL YOU, COMING UP AT SIX, THEY SHARED SOME PHOTOS WITH US OF WHERE THEY WERE CAMPING AND HOW CLOSE THEY WERE TO THOSE FLAMES. WE’LL SHOW YOU THAT AT SIX. WOW. ALREADY LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT, MICHELLE. THANKS. AND RIGHT NOW CREWS ARE STILL WORKING TO STOP THE ROYAL FIRE. IT’S BURNING RIGHT NOW IN THE TAHOE NATIONAL FOREST IN A REMOTE AREA KNOWN AS ROYAL GORGE. IT’S SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 80. THE LAST UPDATE SHOWS 169 ACRES HAVE BURNED. LIVECOPTER3 WAS FLYING AROUND ONE THIS AFTERNOON GETTING US THESE EXCLUSIVE IMAGES YOU ARE LOOKING AT RIGHT HERE. THE FIRE ISN’T GROWING RAPIDLY. THAT’S THE GOOD NEWS. BUT YOU CAN SEE IT IS STILL ACTIVE. FLAMES ARE STILL VISIBLE IN THESE SHOTS. YOU CAN SEE IT RIGHT THERE IN THE MIDDLE OF YOUR SCREEN. AND THERE’S PINK ON THE EDGE. THAT’S FROM RETARDANT DROPS. FIVE HOMES ARE UNDER AN EVACUATION WARNING IN SANTA BARBARA COUNTY. MORE THAN 1100 FIREFIGHTERS ARE WORKING TO CONTROL A WILDFIRE THAT STARTED FRIDAY. THIS BURNED MORE THAN 20,000 ACRES SO FAR, REALLY CLOSE TO HOMES. CREWS ARE FIGHTING THIS ONE FROM THE AIR AND THE GROUND. IT IS ONLY 8% CONTAINED AT THIS POINT. ONE STRUCTURE HAS BURNED AND OTHERS ARE THREATENED. AMONG THEM IS ACTUALLY MICHAEL JACKSON’S FORMER RESIDENCE, THE NEVERLAND RANCH. RIGHT NOW, IT’S NOT CLEAR HOW THIS FIRE STARTED. AND MAKE SURE YOUR FAMILY IS PREPARED DURING THIS VERY BUSY FIRE SEASON COMING UP THIS WEEK. WATCH OUR KCRA 3 WILDFIRE READY SPECIAL. WE’LL TELL YOU WHY THIS SUMMER HAS BEEN SO HOT AND DRY. HOW CREWS ARE TRAINING FOR FORESTRY JOBS IN THE FUTURE, AND HOW TEAMS ARE HELPING PROTECT AREAS THAT HAVE ALREADY BURNED, PLUS WHAT TO PUT IN A GO BAG IN CASE YOU NEED TO EVACUATE. ALL THAT AND MORE COMI