ZCZC
BFF-14
US-CALIFORNIA-FIRES-FIRE-EMERGENCY
Tens of thousands evacuated as wildfires rage in California
LOS ANGELES, Oct 25, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Some 50,000 people were ordered to
flee their homes north of Los Angeles on Thursday as a fast-moving wildfire
driven by high winds erupted and raged out of control.
The so-called Tick Fire near Santa Clarita, about 40 miles (65 kilometers)
north of Los Angeles, broke out in the early afternoon and quickly consumed
5,000 acres (2,023 hectares), fire officials said.
The blaze burned several homes and structures and forced the closure of a
major highway and a number of roads, as some 500 firefighters backed by air
tankers and helicopters battled the flames.
There were no immediate reports of injury.
“We are urging everybody to evacuate at this time,” a spokesman for the
fire department said.
The fire erupted as much of the state was under a red flag warning because
of gusty winds, high temperatures and low humidity which make for perfect
conditions for wildfires.
In northern California wine country, some 2,000 people were ordered to
evacuate after a brush fire erupted late Wednesday, quickly growing from a
blaze of a few hundred acres into a 16,000-acre inferno, California fire
officials said.
About 500 responders battled the fire fed by wind gusts topping 70 miles
per hour (113 kilometers per hour).
Mandatory evacuation orders were issued for the community of Geyserville
and nearby vineyards after the fire started in a mountainous area and quickly
spread, crossing a highway and moving toward homes, the Sonoma County
Sheriff’s Office said.
“If you’re in Geyserville, leave now,” the sheriff’s office advised, citing
an extraordinary threat to life and property.
Winds out of the north were driving the fire as firefighters struggled to
save homes.
By early evening, the fire was five percent contained and several
structures had burned, fire officials said.
The blaze — 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of San Francisco — came amid
official warnings that much of northern California and parts of the south
were under imminent threat of fires into Friday because of blustery, dry
weather and high temperatures.
Another brush fire in San Bernardino County, about 60 miles east of Los
Angeles, also prompted evacuation orders as it quickly burned 75 acres.
– Hurried departures –
Power was cut to some 180,000 customers in the northern part of the state
Thursday and similar preemptive shutoffs affected thousands of customers
further south due to conditions that are ripe for wildfires.
Power companies warned that additional power cuts could be ordered to
reduce the risk of accidental fires.
The strong winds in the north were expected to subside Friday but are
forecast to pick up again on Sunday, the National Weather Service warned.
Many residents of Geyserville said they barely had time to gather their
belongings as the monster fire quickly approached the town, with embers
igniting fires throughout the region.
“We thought we were a couple of miles from the fire,” Dwight Monson, 68,
told the Los Angeles Times. “But guess what — the winds.”
He said by the time his family got in their cars and escaped to the valley
below, the flames were on the edge of their ranch.
PG&E, the state’s biggest utility, said in a statement that it had informed
regulators that a jumper on a transmission tower near where officials said
the fire had started was broken.
The company — which has been held responsible for numerous wildfires in
the state — said that even though power to nearly 28,000 customers in Sonoma
County, including Geyserville, had been shut down on Wednesday, some of the
high-voltage transmission lines were still operating when the fire broke out.
“We relied on the protocol and we still, at this point, do not know what
exactly happened,” PG&E CEO and president Bill Johnson told a news
conference.
This week’s fires have erupted as the state is still recovering from deadly
wildfires in 2017 and 2018 that killed more than 100 people.
The fires have been fueled by years of drought and dry vegetation.
“This is an emotional time for many people,” Sonoma County Sheriff Mark
Essick told a news conference Thursday. “It’s only been two years since the
fires that devastated our community. For many this will be a very stressful
and anxious time.”
BSS/AFP/GMR/0944 hrs