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California wildfires death toll up to seven as huge blazes burn on California wildfire death toll up to seven as huge blazes burn on
(about 16 hours later)
Fires started by lightning with more forecast to come, leading official to say: ‘This is one of the darkest periods’ Governor describes blazes as ‘historic’ but San Francisco Bay Area dodges major lightning storm
Three massive wildfires chewed through parched northern California landscape on Sunday as firefighters raced to dig breaks and make other preparations ahead of a frightening weather system packing high winds and more of the lightning that sparked the huge blazes and scores of other fires, putting nearly a quarter-million people under evacuation orders and warnings. Firefighters in California saw some reprieve on Monday after dodging a major lightning storm in the San Francisco Bay Area, as the state continues to battle blazes the governor described as “historic”. Two of the three largest wildfires ever recorded in California have scorched through more than 1m acres, displaced more than 100,000 people, and killed seven.
At the CZU Lightning Complex fire in the Santa Cruz mountains, south of San Francisco, authorities announced the discovery of the body of a 70-year-old man in a remote area called Last Chance. The man had been reported missing and police had to use a helicopter to reach the area, which is a string of about 40 off-the-grid homes at the end of a windy, steep dirt road north of the city of Santa Cruz. Officials are cautiously optimistic but pleaded with residents to stay out of evacuation zones and prepare for days away from home, as the massive fires near the Bay Area spread smoky air.
The area was under an evacuation order and Santa Cruz sheriff’s chief deputy Chris Clark said it was a stark reminder of the need for residents to leave the area. Dry lightning storms forecasted for the weekend spared the area. A highly unusual spate of dry lightning over the region had sparked the conflagrations that have stretched the state’s firefighting crews, and officials feared that the fresh round of storms on Sunday and Monday would stoke and feed the flames.
“The weather hasn’t been as significant as we were expecting, which is good,” Mark Brunton, operations chief for California’s fire agency, Cal Fire, said at a briefing about the CZU fire Monday morning. But, he added, “conditions are still ripe out there. Complacency kills.”
At the CZU Lightning Complex, a huge grouping of fires in San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties, south of the San Francisco Bay, authorities announced they had discovered the body of a 70-year-old man in a remote area called Last Chance. The man had been reported missing and police used a helicopter to reach him, among 40 off-the-grid homes at the end of a windy, steep dirt road.
The area was under an evacuation order and Chris Clark, the Santa Cruz sheriff’s chief deputy, said it was a stark reminder of the need for residents to leave the area.
“This is one of the darkest periods we’ve been in with this fire,” he said.“This is one of the darkest periods we’ve been in with this fire,” he said.
The fatality was the first for the CZU fire and seventh fire victim in the state in the last week that has seen 650 wildfires across California, many sparked by the more than 12,000 lighting strikes recorded since 15 August. There are 14,0000 firefighters. 2,400 engines and 95 aircraft battling the fires. The fatality was the seventh in California since a record 12,000 lightning strikes set off 650 wildfires across the state. About 14,000 firefighters, 2,400 engines and 95 aircraft are battling the blazes across California, the largest of which include the CZU Complex; the LNU Lightning Complex, burning north of the bay through wine country; and the SCU Lightning Complex to the east. The latter two are the second and third largest California fires on record, each burning through more than 500 square miles.
The Santa Cruz fire is one of three “complexes,” or groups of fires, burning on all sides of the San Francisco Bay Area. All were started by lightning. Dry lightning overnight, which threatened to derail efforts to contain the fires, struck the Central Valley and western Sierra Nevada foothills but spared the Bay Area. The National Weather Service canceled its red flag warning for the Bay Area, though the potential for dry thunderstorms remains in northern California.
Fire crew made progress during the weekend, which saw a welcome break in the unseasonably warm weather and little wind. That allowed firefighters to increase what had been precious little containment. “Foundationally and fundamentally, we are deploying every resource,” Gavin Newsom, the state’s governor, said at a press conference on Monday. “We continue to battle historic wildfires, but we’re also battling this historic pandemic.”
But the forecast late on Sunday was ominous. The National Weather Service issued a “red flag” warning through Monday afternoon for the drought-stricken area, meaning extreme fire conditions including high temperatures, low humidity, lightning and wind gusts up to 65mph that “may result in dangerous and unpredictable fire behavior”. The pandemic, which has killed more than 12,100 in the state and infected more than 668,300, has complicated the state’s response efforts. Those evacuated from their homes have had to weigh the risks of staying with friends and family or at evacuation centers, where they might be vulnerable to catching or spreading Covid-19. At evacuation centers, officials have set up tents for families so they can properly distance from one another and shelters are trying to get “as many air purifiers as we can”, Newsom said. Authorities have also secured hotel rooms for 1,500 evacuees.
Mark Brunton, a battalion chief for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), said while he was confident firefighters did the most with the time they had to prepare, he was not sure what to expect. Smoke and air pollution from the fires leave those with respiratory illnesses, who are at risk for severe complications from Covid-19, doubly vulnerable. Health officials have asked residents to remain indoors whenever possible to avoid breathing unhealthy air.
“There’s a lot of potential for things to really go crazy out there,” he said. The unrelenting blazes have stretched the state’s public health resources and its large firefighting crews.
The LNU Lightning Complex fire in wine country north of San Francisco and SCU Lightning Complex south-east of the city have grown to be two of the three largest fires in state history, both burning more than 500 square miles. The LNU fire has been the most deadly and destructive, accounting for five deaths and 845 destroyed homes and other buildings. Three victims were in a home under an evacuation order. The LNU fire has been the most deadly and destructive, accounting for five deaths and 845 destroyed homes and other buildings.
Officials surveying maps at command centers are astonished by the sheer size of the fires, Cal Fire spokesman Brice Bennett said. Brunton, the Cal Fire official, said crews had been working exhausting, 72-hour shifts and resources were stretched. “This is a big monster” that crews are facing, he said.
“You could overlay half of one of these fires and it covers the entire city of San Francisco,” Bennett said. Officials surveying maps at command centers were astonished by the sheer size of the fires, Brice Bennett, a Cal Fire spokesman, said. “You could overlay half of one of these fires and it covers the entire city of San Francisco,” he said.
In southern California, an 11-day-old blaze held steady at just under 50 square miles near Lake Hughes in northern Los Angeles county mountains. Rough terrain, hot weather and the potential for thunderstorms with lightning strikes challenged firefighters on Sunday. Authorities said their firefighting efforts in Santa Cruz were hindered by people who refused to evacuate and those using the chaos to steal. The Santa Cruz county sheriff, Jim Hart, said 100 officers were patrolling and anyone not authorized to be in an evacuation zone would be arrested.
Authorities said their effort in Santa Cruz was hindered by people who refused to evacuate and those using the chaos to steal. Santa Cruz county sheriff Jim Hart said 100 officers were patrolling and anyone not authorized to be in an evacuation zone would be arrested. Among the theft victims was a fire commander who was robbed when he left his vehicle.
“What we’re hearing from the community is that there’s a lot of looting going on,” Hart said.
He and county district attorney Jeff Rosell expressed anger at what Rosell called the “absolutely soulless” people who seek to victimize those already hit by the fire. Among the victims was a fire commander who was robbed when he left his vehicle.
“I can’t imagine a bigger low-life,” Hart said, promising to catch him and vowing “the DA is going to hammer him”.
Holly Hansen, who fled the LNU fire, was among evacuees from the community of Angwin allowed to go back to their homes for one hour to retrieve belongings. She and her three dogs waited five hours in her SUV for their turn. Among the items she took with her were photos of her pets.Holly Hansen, who fled the LNU fire, was among evacuees from the community of Angwin allowed to go back to their homes for one hour to retrieve belongings. She and her three dogs waited five hours in her SUV for their turn. Among the items she took with her were photos of her pets.
“It’s horrible, I lived in Sonoma during the [2017] Tubbs Fire, so this is time No2 for me. It’s horrible when you have to think about what to take,” she said. “I think it’s a very raw human base emotion to have fear of fire and losing everything. It’s frightening.” “It’s horrible. I lived in Sonoma during the [2017] Tubbs Fire, so this is time No 2 for me. It’s horrible when you have to think about what to take,” she said. “I think it’s a very raw human base emotion to have fear of fire and losing everything. It’s frightening.”
The blazes have come before the traditional peak fire season in the autumn, when powerful offshore winds stoke and spread flames. Those fire-fueling winds are still expected in the coming weeks, said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA. But the unusual thunderstorms that followed a scorching heatwave, combined with a historically dry winter, provided both the spark and the kindling for the eruption of fire that has overtaken California in August.
The 1.2m acres that have burned in the past 10 days have far overtaken the estimated 259,800 acres that burned throughout all of 2019. In 2018, which saw one of “ the deadliest and most destructive wildfire season on record in California”, according to Cal Fire, 1.9m acres burned.
Although wildfire is a natural and necessary part of the ecosystem in California, the climate crisis is fueling more extreme, destructive blazes, Swain said.