California wildfires threaten thousands of homes, put pressure on businesses

Wildfires raged across northern California on Wednesday, threatening thousands of homes and blackening the skies near and above San Francisco as teams struggled to surround them despite craggy terrain and scorching heat. The smoky skies are expected to persist for the next few days, reports CBS San Francisco.

The fires, often caused by lightning and sometimes driven by high winds, had burned hundreds of thousands of acres as they passed through brush, rural areas, canyons and dense forest to the north, east and south of San Francisco. Fires have also made their way through the wine region and Sierra Nevada.

In addition to about two dozen major fires, small fires continued to break out, although most were quickly stopped.

CBS San Francisco says the fires are putting additional pressure on businesses already struggling due to the coronavirus pandemic. Outdoor dining restaurants and outdoor shopping malls were among the hardest hit.

In central California, a pilot on a water dump mission in western Fresno County died Wednesday morning when his helicopter crashed about an hour from New Coalinga Municipal Airport.

The pilot, whose name was not released, was working with Fillmore-based Guardian Helicopters, which had a contract with the national fire department, Cal Fire, to provide on-call emergency services when needed said Zoe Keliher, a National Transportation Safety Board investigator.

Hundreds of fires have broken out since the start of the week as a heatwave accompanied by humid air created a dangerous mix of triple-digit temperatures and thunderstorms that triggered lightning.

California recorded nearly 11,000 strikes in 72 hours, Governor Gavin Newsom said on Wednesday.

Two fires in Solano County on Wednesday ordered the evacuation of 8,000 residents near the Russian River and residents of Healdsburg, which has a population of around 12,000, were warned late Wednesday evening to be prepared to to run away.

Ash and smoke filled the air in San Francisco from at least seven fires – known as the LNU Lightning Complex – that had burned more than 100 buildings, including some homes, and threatened 25,000 more in the counties of Napa, Sonoma, Lake, Yolo and Solano.

Fire officials said there was “extreme fire behavior”.

“The fires are spreading in several directions and impacting several communities. An extremely dry air mass is moving over the area, bringing high winds,” a Cal Fire statement said Wednesday evening.

The Hennessey Fire in Napa County forced the evacuation of St. Helena Hospital Wednesday night, about 3.5 miles northeast of downtown, reports CBS San Francisco.

There were 50 patients in the 151-bed hospital when the evacuation order was issued just before 7 p.m., said Linda Williams, an Adventist health public information officer, adding they were being taken there. where their needs could be best met.

Four people were injured, Cal Fire reported, but did not provide details except to say they were not firefighters.

Travis Air Force Base ordered essential personnel who were not part of the mission to evacuate, officials said.

Residents of Vacaville, a town of about 100,000 located between San Francisco and Sacramento, were awakened before dawn on Wednesday with orders to flee.

Police and firefighters went door-to-door in a frantic race to warn residents to evacuate as flames engulfed them.

Karen Hansen had fled Tuesday night as the flames approached her small farm.

“The whole sky was orange red and it was crossing the hill over there and it was huge. I’ve never seen anything like it and it only took a few minutes to get here,” she said.

The family fled with a few animals but had to leave behind two beloved horses. They returned on Wednesday to find the house and barn destroyed, but Hansen was delighted to see that his horses had survived.

“I’m not mad at the house. I’m just happy that my horses and animals are alive and my daughter,” she said.

John Gardiner, 60, remained up all night after receiving an alert from a neighbor of an oncoming fire just before midnight on Wednesday.

“It was amazing – things were swirling, winds passing through like a howl, a heartbreaking sound and then you could hear explosions,” he said. “You can taste the smoke in your mouth.”

His house has survived – for now.

In the eastern San Francisco Bay area, a cluster of 20 lightning-triggered fires, called the SCU Lightning Complex, threatened about 3,800 buildings in Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties.

Five to seven people were injured in one of the Stanislaus County fires, Sheriff Jeff Dirkse told the Sacramento Bee.

One of them had major burns and all of them were taken by ambulance for treatment, he said.

Someone who evacuated on Monday had reported that workers from an illegal marijuana farm were still at the ranch, but could not confirm if there were any among the patients.

In addition, Cal Fire said two “first responders” to the fires were injured but did not release details.

Fire crews were hampered by dense, dry brush in rugged country, smoke and haze that traps heat, and winds that sometimes reached 30 mph, Cal Fire reported. They spent Wednesday struggling to keep the flames from reaching the buildings.

South of San Francisco, in San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties, an estimated 22,000 people have been ordered to evacuate due to a fire burning in a dense woodland park that threatens communities, the spokesperson said. word of Cal Fire, Jonathan Cox.

At least 20 houses have burned down, fire officials said.

Resources are limited, he said, given the number of fires burning in California.

Some firefighters worked 72 hour shifts instead of the usual 24 hours.

“We’re in the unfortunate position where firefighters are going to spend several days on the line of fire,” Cox said. “It’s grueling, it’s exhausting.”

In southern California, an 8-day-old fire near Hughes Lake in the mountains of northern Los Angeles County continued to threaten 4,570 structures after destroying 21 buildings. It was 38% content.