Jan Wesner Childs
California fire officials pleaded with residents to heed evacuation orders Wednesday, and said more people will likely be told to leave their homes in parts of the state under siege from dozens of wildfires.
Chris Waters, operations chief for a group of fires burning in five counties in the San Francisco Bay area, said communities to the south of any active fires should especially be on alert. There so many fires burning in the area that firefighters have put them all under one incident – the LNU Lightning Complex – for reporting purposes.
"We’ve done a tremendous number of evacuations over last night and we’re continuing to expand those evacuations as the day goes on," Waters said in a news conference at 11 a.m. PDT.
He said he couldn't provide an overall tally of the number of people ordered to flee their homes because the situation was dynamic and rapidly moving.
(MORE: Missing Monsoon Has Led to Growing Drought, Record Heat in Southwestern U.S.)
Many of the blazes were ignited by what fire officials called a "historic" number of lightning strikes.
Authorities pleaded with residents to heed evacuation warnings.
"I want to acknowledge that this is an incredibly stressful and emotional time for many of us who have endured many fires and natural disasters over the last couple of years. We realize this is a trigger point for many of you in the public and we ask that you please go to your plan … be ready, follow the plan when it comes time evacuate," Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick said at the news conference.
“If you are in fear of your life, be ready to go and make that decision to go.”
Essick said deputies would drive through neighborhoods sounding their siren in a "high-low" pattern when evacuation orders were issued.
“The high-low siren is unique, it means it’s time to go," he said.
Residents near the town of Vacaville fled early Wednesday morning as flames threatened their homes. One woman described her harrowing escape to KPIX-TV:
"So my husband was driving the car and he got burnt and he had to leave the car and it blew up, so I was walking down by myself, and I got all these flames on me," the woman said. "I lost my shoe. But I made it. God saved me."
At least 50 structures were destroyed and another 50 damaged, according to Cal Fire.
Emergency radio communications indicated firefighters rescued victims, including some who possibly had burns, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Reporters posted on social media that firefighters were focused on getting people out rather than fighting the flames.
Video taken after daybreak Wednesday showed the smoldering remains of burned homes and vehicles.
The blaze burning near Vacaville was part of the LNU complex, but was separately known as the Hennessey Fire.
The LNU fires have burned more than 71 square miles of land in Sonoma, Lake, Napa, Yolo and Solano Counties. At least 10,000 people were under evacuation orders in Sonoma County.
Another cluster of fires in San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties put at least 22,000 people under evacuation orders. Those blazes, called the CZU August Lightning Complex, have burned more than 15 square miles.
A third group of fires named the SCU Lightning Complex has charred more than 132 square miles in Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties.
In all, more than 220 square miles of land have burned in the three fire clusters, according to Cal Fire. That doesn't count numerous other wildfires burning around the state.
CalFire's website crashed Wednesday due to heavy traffic as people sought updates.
Much of California is enduring a sweltering late summer heat wave that has broken several record highs in recent days. The hot, dry conditions are expected to continue at least into the weekend. Many of the fires were ignited by lightning.
The fires and extreme heat prompted California Gov. Gavin Newsom to declare a state of emergency Tuesday, saying the fires "have been exacerbated by the effects of the historic West Coast heat wave and sustained high winds."
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
No comments:
Post a Comment