Explosive wildfire in California

Calvin

In Hazzard County
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SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — An explosive wildfire that started Saturday afternoon in Lake County and spread to Napa County later in the day has destroyed structures and charred nearly 40 square miles in several hours, chasing thousands of people from their homes and sending four firefighters to the hospital with second-degree burns, according to Cal Fire and the Lake County Office of Emergency Services.

The fire erupted in Lake County Saturday at 1:20 p.m. and rapidly chewed through brush and trees parched from several years of drought, fire officials said.

An unconfirmed number of structures were destroyed and entire towns and residents along a 35-mile stretch of highway were evacuated, ultimately burning through 40,000 acres in less than 24 hours and, according to PG&E, leaving 9,000 customers in the area without power.

The firefighters, all members of a helicopter crew, were airlifted to a hospital burn unit, where they were listed in stable condition, department spokesman Daniel Berlant said.

To the east, firefighters battled a blaze about 70 miles southeast of Sacramento that exploded to more than 101 square miles in four days, turning the grassy, tree-studded Sierra Nevada foothills an eerie white.

“Our hearts are breaking right now,” Lake County OES spokeswoman Jill Ruzicka said. She said some people in the emergency operations center had to leave to take care of loved ones.

Evacuations are in effect for residents in areas of Lake and Napa counties. An evacuation center is open at the Napa County Fairground in Calistoga. A center at the Kelseyville Presbyterian Church cannot accept any more people, Lake County officials tweeted at 10:29 p.m.

Additional mandatory evacuations have been ordered in Lake County from state Highway 29 and state Highway 175 to Seigler Canyon Road and for state Highway 29 at state Highway 175 toward Cobb and Red Hills Road to state Highway 29.

More than 1,000 firefighters are fighting the fire and getting people evacuated from the area.

Areas of Napa County are under advisory and could be under mandatory evacuations later today.

Evacuated my family and animals to my grandparents in Kelseyville last night around midnight. Photos from this morning: cars muddy with ash. So scary to have to pick what’s important and to take. I’ve been going to Middletown from k-12 and I graduated from Middletown high school in May and I can’t believe it’s all gone now. At least 9 of my close friends and past teammates homes are burned to nothing on Cobb mountain. About 5 families that I know lost their homes in hidden valley area. One couple we know is expecting a baby girl pretty soon and they watched their home burn down from their arena shortly after preparing the nursery. Devastating. Praying for friends, family. ~~KRON viewer Ashley Hadley
Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said a combination of wind and the “tinder dry” grass, brush and trees caused the fire to spread so rapidly. “The dry conditions are playing a huge role,” he said.

Crews increased containment to 15 percent despite a thick layer of smoke that kept air tankers and helicopters from flying Saturday.

The fire, which broke out on Wednesday, destroyed 86 homes, 51 outbuildings and was threatening about 6,400 more.

“I lost my business — it’s all burned up — my shop, my house, 28 years of living,” said Joe Thomas, who lives near the community of Mountain Ranch. “I got to start all over. It’s depressing.”

Thomas, who runs a tractor dealership and repair business, said he and his wife grabbed papers, his work computer, photos and their four dogs. But they left a goat, five ducks, six rabbits and more than 30 chickens behind.

“I turned the pens open and turned them lose. I just couldn’t gather them up,” he said. “All we want to do is go home. It’s miserable.”

Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency, helping free up funding and resources in the firefight. More than 3,850 firefighters were assigned to the blaze, and more we expected to join the firefight. Its cause is under investigation.

Meanwhile, new evacuation orders were issued Saturday for the largest wildfire in the state, threatening to sweep through an ancient grove of Giant Sequoia trees. The fire, sparked by lightning on July 31, has charred 201 square miles, the U.S. Forest Service said.

Firefighters cleared brush around the Grant Grove and set prescribed burns to keep the flames from overrunning it. By Saturday, the backfiring and monitoring efforts appeared to have helped protect the treasured trees, the Fresno Bee reported.

The grove is named for the towering General Grant tree that stands 268 feet tall. There are dozens of Sequoia groves in the Sierra Nevada, and some trees are 3,000 years old.

Several video and photo: http://kron4.com/2015/09/13/gallery...-fast-moving-wildfires-in-lake-napa-counties/

We really need the rain, hopefully El Nina will help bring much needed rain in the winter.
 
I am very sad to hear about people losing their animals and homes.
 
I saw on the news people were not allowed to go back and get their pets. :(

Is anyone near the fire , I hope not .
 
It's all very, very sad. Thankfully, the temps are cooler today and getting lower as the week goes on. It is so smokey outside, my eyes are burning from being out for just a little bit. These poor fire fighters are not getting a break. Praying the rain predicted will happen soon.
 
It's all very, very sad. Thankfully, the temps are cooler today and getting lower as the week goes on. It is so smokey outside, my eyes are burning from being out for just a little bit. These poor fire fighters are not getting a break. Praying the rain predicted will happen soon.

I saw how bad it's on the news tonight whole neighborhoods are gone , and huge wall of orange and red fire. And some firemen got burnt too.
:( The smoke much be getting into your home too. How awful .
 
I hope the area gets rain soon. The fires are terrible.
 
Fire grew to 61,000 acres, entire community wiped out.

Map of fire size
920x1240.png


http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Valley-Fire-grows-to-61-000-acres-6503194.php
 
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My friend just alerted me to something this morning. How about the fact that the fires burn power lines to the houses? Not only do the water wells not function without power, and you have no water, you also can't DO ANYTHING without power. That just kicked up the CA evacuation schedule up a notch.

By CA evacuation, I mean not only do you not have water or sufficient water at the residential level because of the drought, you also don't have the power lines available to supply power to your house, and you would need power of some kind to power the tools one uses, and even if you ran a gas generator, where would you get the gas from if power lines to the gas stations are disrupted as well? Those affected areas would end up being entirely run on gasoline/LP.
 
How terrible!! I hope the fire will be put down sooner!!
 
Update: Valley Fire grows to 67,000 acres with 15 percent containment

Firefighters in Lake County made progress on the massive Valley Fire early Tuesday, getting containment to 15 percent as temperatures dipped down and humidity rose around the 67,000-acre burn area where hundreds of homes were torched over the weekend.

Almost 2,400 firefighters were attacking the flames with the help of eight helicopters and 232 fire engines.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation.

More to the story and photos: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Valley-Fire-grows-to-67-000-acres-with-15-percent-6505529.php
 
Update: Firefighters spent Tuesday digging a perimeter line around the 67,200-acre fire, which is now 30 percent contained. Nearly 600 homes is destroyed and expected to rise.

Some hints on the cause of the possible Ground Zero of Valley Fire:

Investigators working to pinpoint the cause of the massive Valley Fire narrowed their focus Tuesday to a house in the small community of Cobb.

Officials with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spent the day surveying the burned-out shed next to a two-story home on the 8000 block of High Valley Road.

The house was unscathed, but the fire had charred a hill south of the home after possibly igniting in or near the small shed, which was charred and blackened on one side.

The area was cordoned off with police tape while investigators worked the scene. Cal Fire officials said the cause of the blaze remains under investigation and would only confirm it started near High Valley Road and Bottle Rock Road, which is near the property where the shed is located.

The home was surrounded by dry grass, pine and oak trees on a large plot of land in the hillside community of Cobb.

Dan Bennett, who lives across from the property, said a man who lives on a mobile home on his property spotted the fire shortly after 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
“He smelled smoke and walked across the street and saw a small grass fire in the yard across the street,” said Bennett, who was out of town when the fire happened. He said the man had yelled to a person in an in-law unit on the Bennett’s property to call 911.

“It’s amazing that this started right in front of my home and my home is still standing,” Bennett said. “I thought it was gone for sure.

Parker Mills, a co-owner of the property where the shed is located, said he doesn’t believe the fire started on his land. He thinks the fire came down the hill behind his house and torched the shed.

“The shed in question was a woodshed. There is no electricity,” Mills said. “There has to be some kind of ignition. I would like to think the fire came in from somewhere else.” No one was on the property when the fire started, said Mills, who was reached at his home in Elk (Mendocino County).

Ken Gregory, who lives north of the site, said he and other neighbors had heard from firefighters that the blaze that has burned 67,000 acres and destroyed 585 homes started in the shed and burned fast up the hillside.

Gregory described a large plume of smoke rising from the neighborhood Saturday afternoon. He immediately jumped into his water tender truck and started putting out fires in the neighborhood.

But the flames raced to the south and west, swelling to 40,000 acres in a few hours and ravaging hundreds of homes in its path.

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Valley-Fire-apparently-started-near-home-in-Cobb-6506658.php
 
That sucks. They better look out for mudslides. Heard from my family and friends in CA they're happy about the rain..
 
Correction:

The Valley fire had grown to 70,000 acres and was 30% contained as of Wednesday morning, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. It has destroyed 585 homes and hundreds of other structures and continues to threaten 7,650 structures. The death of one woman, whose remains were found in a charred residence on Cobb Mountain earlier this week, has been confirmed.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-valley-fire-expands-evacuees-return-20150916-story.html
 
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