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State of emergency as California wildfires rage
HEALDSBURG, United States, Oct 28, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – California’s governor
declared a state-wide emergency on Sunday as a huge wind-fueled blaze forced
evacuations and massive power blackouts, threatening towns in the famed
Sonoma wine region.
The so-called Kincade Fire, north of San Francisco, has spread to 30,000
acres (12,000 hectares) and was only 10 percent contained by Sunday evening,
state fire authorities said.
The blaze, the largest of more than a dozen wildfires burning throughout
the state, has destroyed dozens of homes and wineries, including the iconic
Soda Rock Winery built in 1869.
“We’ve seen the news. We are devastated,” the owners said in a Facebook
message, adding that all staff at the winery — located in the town of
Healdsburg, 70 miles north of San Francisco — are safe.
At least two hospitals in Santa Rosa — Kaiser Permanente Hospital and
Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital — evacuated patients over the weekend to
other hospitals.
The Kincade Fire — the most devastating in California this year — ignited
Wednesday and spread quickly thanks to powerful wind gusts up to 90 miles per
hour (145 kilometers per hour).
Governor Gavin Newsom declared a statewide emergency on Sunday due to the
“unprecedented” high winds that significantly raise the risk of fires.
“We are deploying every resource available, and are coordinating with
numerous agencies as we continue to respond to these fires,” Newsom said in a
statement. “It is critical that people in evacuation zones heed the warnings
from officials and first responders, and have the local and state resources
they need as we fight these fires.”
An estimated 180,000 people were under mandatory evacuation orders,
including in parts of Santa Rosa and a large swath of Sonoma County all the
way to the Pacific Ocean.
– ‘Largest evacuation in memory’ –
“This is the largest evacuation that any of us at the Sheriff’s Office can
remember. Take care of each other,” the Sonoma County sheriff’s office
tweeted.
Authorities said the area would remain under dangerous red flag conditions
until Monday morning.
“Things will improve as we head into Monday and Tuesday but we need to be
resilient as it looks like we have another north wind event, another dry
event that is going to impact the region Tuesday night into Wednesday,” a
spokesman for the National Weather Service told a news conference.
A fire official warned that should the flames continue spreading west and
jump over a major freeway — the 101 — that could prove even more
catastrophic, as that region hasn’t had any fires since the 1940s.
“The fuels in that area are extremely dense, they are extremely old and
decadent and they are extremely dry,” he said, referring to combustible
material, including shrubs and trees that feed a fire.
More than 3,000 firefighters backed by air tankers and helicopters were
battling to control the blaze, which was not expected to be contained before
November 7, fire officials said.
– Police to prevent looting –
Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick told a news conference that hundreds of
police officers backed by the National Guard had been deployed in regions
under evacuation orders to check property and prevent looting.
MORE/MSY/0911 hrs
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Several other fires have erupted throughout the state in the last week,
fueled by high winds, bone-dry conditions and temperatures in the 80s and 90s
Fahrenheit.
One major fire — the Tick Fire — in the southern part of the state, north
of Los Angeles, also prompted evacuations and destroyed a number of homes
near Santa Clarita.
But on Sunday, most evacuation orders were lifted as some 1,000
firefighters worked to contain the fire that burned more than 4,500 acres.
In a bid to reduce the risk of fire, California’s largest utility, Pacific
Gas & Electric Co., said it expected to turn off power to nearly one million
customers across northern and central California.
“Winds of this magnitude pose a higher risk of damage and sparks on the
electric system and rapid wildfire spread,” the company said in a statement.
“The fire risk is even higher because vegetation on the ground has been dried
out by recent wind events.”
PG&E has come under intense scrutiny after it emerged that one of its
transmissions lines may have played a role in the Kincade Fire.
The same type of line was responsible for California’s deadliest wildfire
ever — last year’s Camp Fire, which killed 86 people.
PG&E, which filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year, has been
blamed for several other fires in the state in recent years.
Newsom hit out at the utility earlier this week, saying he was infuriated
that a state such as California — which boasts the fifth-largest economy in
the world — had to endure blackouts.
BSS/AFP/MSY/0911 hrs