[ad_1]
PARADISE, Calif. – Fires caused by strong winds on Monday struck thousands of acres of forests and chaparral in northern and southern California, having already destroyed a city in Sierra Nevada and forced the Evacuation of tens of thousands of Los Angeles residents.
The hell that cremated the city of Paradise in the north has killed at least 29 people and is already the most destructive fire in California's history, destroying 6,453 homes. The sheriff who led the search for the missing in Paradise has issued a dark and disturbing warning: "It's very early in our action," said Sunday evening Sheriff Kory L. Honea County Butte. "We have a lot of work to do." The authorities are preparing for the death toll to rise dramatically.
Here are the latest developments:
• The Campfire, which killed 29 people in paradise, has already burned more than 110,000 acres and is confined to only about 25%.
• Sheriff Honea said Sunday night that 228 people are still missing in northern California.
• Firefighters fighting against Woolsey Fire in southern California were preparing for the worsening of the situation over the next few days. Two people died in the fire, which is under control at 20% and has charred more than 90,000 hectares in communities like Malibu and Thousand Oaks.
• Another fire that devastated 4,500 hectares in Ventura County, Hill firewas 75% contained.
• See where the fires burned in the graph below.
A hearse navigates the darkened lunar landscape of paradise
Inside the evacuation zone, Paradise is a blackened lunar landscape.
Abandoned houses line the road, solitary horses wave their tails. White smoke is like a thick duvet above everything.
The fire came from the east of paradise, destroying some buildings but not others. The Butte County Library was still standing. Gone was all about Old Town Plaza. On the main avenue, a large, friendly looking cub stood with a sign: Welcome to Bearadise. The buildings behind her had disappeared, now nothing but metal and ash.
On Wagstaff Road, the streets were full of broken power lines and the destruction was indicative of the capricious nature of the fire.
"Betsy," read a small cardboard sign with an arrow pointing to several houses. To the left of Betsy's spire, a fire had exploded in the house, leaving a scaffold blackened with bricks. On the right, the house was so intact that its yellow flowers were high in their pots, ready for their next watering.
Dick Waugh, 65, stopped in a black hearse Sunday afternoon. He was wearing khakis and round glasses and said he would help a friend remove the corpses from the neighborhoods.
Mr. Waugh lowered his window. He had no mask to protect himself from the smoke. "Everyone here is used to devastation," he said, noting that the community had already been confronted with natural disasters. "We have never seen anything like it."
He did not know how it would affect him, he said. He did not have time to think about it.
In any case, he said, he had to leave.
"I'll know it next week when there will be bubbles."
Many were trapped in the traffic while they were trying to flee
In the hours following the devastating fire that broke out around Paradise on Thursday morning, the tree-lined streets of the city quickly became fire tunnels, blocked by fallen power lines and burning wood . Distraught locals, surrounded by thick smoke and swirling embers, ran out of gas and dropped their cars. Fire crews struggling to reach the city resorted to giant earth-moving equipment to clear abandoned vehicles off the road, as if they were snowdrifts after a blizzard.
Further south, near Los Angeles, where the massive Woolsey fire continued to be destroyed, mass evacuation was also virtually halted by winding roads. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said two bodies were found severely burned in a vehicle stopped on a long, narrow driveway in Malibu.
Lauri Kester, head of the elderly in Paradise, said it had taken an hour to walk three miles Thursday, when the fire storm ravaged the city.
"There were cars at the back, cars at the front and shots on both sides," Ms. Kester said. A policeman passing by her told her to abandon her Subaru.
So, Mrs. Kester, 52, ran down the road with her dog, Biscuit, in her arms. "I thought, 'This is not how I want to die,'" recalls Ms. Kester.
[[[[Learn more here about how traffic has compounded the problems of those who are trying to escape.]
Why does California have so many forest fires?
The first factor is its climate.
California, like most western countries, is very wet in autumn and winter. Its vegetation then passes much of the summer to dry out slowly due to lack of rainfall and warmer temperatures. This vegetation is then used to light fires.
But while the California climate has always been subject to fire, the link between climate change and larger fires is inextricable. "Behind the scenes of all this, you have temperatures that are about two to three degrees Fahrenheit warmer than they would have been without global warming," said Park Williams, bioclimatologist at Lamont Earth Observatory. -Doherty of the Columbia. This dries up the vegetation even more, which makes it more likely to burn.
But there are also other factors, including the strong winds of Santa Ana and human actions causing fires and suppressing them. Read more here.
Here's how you can help
It is always important to do your research before donating to charities. Here's a list of charities in California that apply for donations, as well as specific sites and organizations in Butte County and Southern California.
Source link
