Ron Brackett
About 100,000 residents of Orange County, California, were ordered from their homes Monday when a pair of wildfires erupted on Monday. The larger fire, the Silverado Fire, exploded in size from 10 acres to 11 square miles by Monday evening during some of the season's most extreme fire conditions.
Two Orange County Fire Authority handcrew members, ages 26 and 31, received second and third-degree burns Monday afternoon while fighting the fire, which is located near the city of Irvine, California. The firefighters were each burned over at least 50% of their bodies.
The evacuation also affected 12 schools, according to the Irvine Unified School District. Parents were asked to pick up their children. Children whose parents could not pick them up were taken to Irvine High School where they could meet their parents later.
Officials in the city of Lake Forest warned residents that evacuations could be ordered there as the day went on.
Wind gusts were at about 45 mph in the area when the fire began, the National Weather Service reported. A gust of 84 mph was recorded at 9 a.m. in Freemont Canyon, just a few miles from the fire, the NWS said. Much of the state is under red flag warnings because of high winds and low humidity.
Orange County fire officials said all air support was grounded because of the high winds. The winds also made water drops from helicopters ineffective, Capt. Ben Gonzales of the Orange County Fire Authority told the Los Angeles Times. He said he wasn't sure when the aircraft could return to flying.
A plane drops fire retardant on the Silverado Fire burning Monday, October 26, 2020, near Irvine, California. Nearly 60,000 residents of the city in Orange County were ordered to evacuate.(WATCH: Dangerous Fire Weather Continues for California)
Gonzales said in addition to the wind, dry vegetation and steep terrain made the fire more difficult to fight.
“It’s a little bit of everything to be honest, between the high unpredictable winds — we’ve had reports of gusts in excess of 70 mph — of course, we have the dry brush and, as always, terrain is something we have to deal with,” he told the newspaper. “Now that we have aircraft grounded, it does make it a little more difficult but we have numerous resources on scene, and our goal is to control the fire and protect homes.”
Officials closed the 241 Freeway from Santiago Canyon Road to the 133 Freeway. The fire, which began in the Santiago Canyon, jumped the 241, Orange County fire officials said.
Irvine Police Chief Mike Hamel said that as of 11 a.m. no structures had been lost in the fire, Irvine Weekly reported. “So far,” Hamel added.
Three of seven evacuations centers that were opened filled up before 11:30 a.m., KTLA reported.
Southern California Edison announced it was considering cutting off electricity to more than 71,000 customers, most of them in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Ventura and Orange counties.
In addition to the Silverado Fire, a number of other fires popped up Sunday and early Monday.
A new fire, called the Blue Ridge Fire, ignited near homes in Yorba Linda, also in Orange County, Monday afternoon. The fire was approximately 700 acres in size as of Monday evening. More than 10,000 people have been evacuated.
At least 20 wildfires across the state are still not fully contained, according to Cal Fire. This has been California’s worst wildfire season on record with more than 6,453 square miles burned. At least 31 people have died because of the fires.
Northern California
With strong winds and dry humidity creating a high risk of catastrophic wildfires, Pacific Gas and Electric started shutting off power to more than 360,000 homes and businesses in parts of 36 California counties over the weekend.
The "public safety power shutoffs" will affected about 1 million people in Northern and Central California, according to the Los Angeles Times. The state's largest utility enacts the shutoffs when weather threatens electric lines and equipment that could spark wildfires.
PG&E said it had restored power to nearly 100,000 customers as winds eased in some areas, with electricity to be back on at the other homes and buildings by Tuesday night after crews make air and ground inspections to make repairs and ensure it's safe.
Wind gusts and low humidity combined with drought conditions to make some of the most extreme fire conditions of the season on Sunday into Monday.
"It’s definitely the strongest wind event of this fire season and probably the lowest humidity as well," Duane Dykema, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Monterey, told the Los Angeles Times. "So overall, these are the most dangerous and critical conditions we’ve seen this fire season."
A weather station on Mount St. Helena recorded a wind gust of 89 mph late Sunday. Gusts over 100 mph were recorded at a station 9,186 feet above sea level in Kirkwood, near Lake Tahoe. A 96 mph gust was measured in the San Gabriel Mountains south of Santa Clarita.
Winds are expected to calm somewhat Monday night before one more burst of wind on Tuesday.
PG&E said the goal is to restore "power to nearly all customers within 12 daylight hours after severe weather has passed."
(MORE: Colorado Wildfires Burn Hundreds of Homes Before Snow Brings Some Relief)
The shutoffs will affect about 361,000 customers in targeted portions of 36 counties, including: Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Kern, Lake, Madera, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Tehama, Trinity, Tuolumne, Yolo and Yuba. Some customers in 17 tribal communities will also be affected.
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.
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