HEALDSBURG (United States), Oct 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Powerful winds were fanning wildfires in northern California in “potentially historic fire”
conditions, authorities said, as tens of thousands of people were
ordered to evacuate and sweeping power cuts began in the US state.
Gusts of 130 kph were fueling the Kincade blaze — which threatens tens of thousands of structures — causing it to burn with greater intensity in remote steep terrain north of San Francisco, the National Weather Service said.
The Sonoma County Sheriff’s office early Sunday issued an evacuation
warning for much of the city of Santa Rosa, which has a population of some
180,000 people.
Nearly 90,000 people were ordered to flee their homes on Saturday as the
Sonoma county fire spread after breaking out midweek.
A total of 77 structures, including 31 residential buildings, had been
destroyed by the blaze on Saturday, as more than 2,800 personnel were called to the scene, according to Jonathan Cox, spokesman for the California
Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
“Potentially historic fire weather conditions are possible” north of San
Francisco, the US National Weather Service wrote in a tweet.
“This is definitely an event that we’re calling historic and extreme,”
David King, a meteorologist with the service, said.
“What’s making this event really substantial… is the amount of time that
these winds are going to remain.”
The gusting winds, which have caused a red flag warning indicating a high
risk level, will last into early Monday, meteorologists said.
California’s largest utility, Pacific Gas & Electric Co., said it expected
to turn off power to 940,000 customers — a precautionary shutdown that local media reported would affect about two million people.
A map linked to by PG&E showed blackouts affecting large areas stretching
some 250 miles (430 km) to the north of San Francisco Sunday, as well as to
the south and east.
The company said it “will need to turn off power for safety several hours
before the potentially damaging winds arrive.”
“Winds of this magnitude pose a higher risk of damage and sparks on the
electric system and rapid wildfire spread.”
The Kincade Fire, which is only 10 percent contained, has grown to 10,500 hectares, Cox said.
PG&E has come under fierce scrutiny after power was earlier shut down to
nearly 28,000 customers in Sonoma County this week, but some high-voltage transmission lines were still operating when the fire broke out.
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.
California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency and hit out at the company on Friday, saying it had put “profits over the people of
California for too long.”
Farther south in California, most evacuation orders were lifted after tens
of thousands of residents left their homes near Santa Clarita, just north of
Los Angeles, due to the so-called Tick Fire that scorched over 4,000 acres.
Officials said Saturday that human remains were found in the burn area,
but that authorities had determined the death had not been caused by the
fire, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The blaze forced the shutdown of all schools in the area as well as a
major freeway, creating traffic chaos for commuters.
Some 1,325 firefighters backed by air tankers and helicopters had battled
the flames close to densely packed communities.
Wildfires also erupted over the border in Mexico’s Baja California state,
where local civil protection authorities said on Friday that three people had
been killed and more than 150 homes destroyed.
The state’s director of civil protection, Antonio Rosquillas, said the
municipality of Tecate, bordering the United States, was the worst hit. — NNN-AGENCIES
