VACAVILLE, California (AP) – Crews worked Wednesday in scorching heat to fend off wildfires that have ravaged Northern California, sending thousands of people from their homes into the smoke-filled air, briefly disrupting traffic on a road and killing a driving force on a firefighting mission.
Hundreds of chimneys burned across California, adding 23 primary fireplaces or sets of chimneys that Gov. Gavin Newsom attributed to “extraordinary weather” and “everyone who moves the rays.” He said the state had recorded nearly 11,000 lightning movements in 72 hours and had 367 chimneys.
Five or seven other people were injured in a chimney in Stanislaus County, southeast of San Francisco, Sheriff Jeff Dirkse told the Sacramento Bee.
One of them had primary burns and all were taken by ambulance for treatment, he said.
Someone who evacuated on Monday reported that the staff of an illegal marijuana farm were still on the ranch, but can check if there were any among the patients.
Two fires in Solano County have resulted in evacuation orders for 8,000 citizens near the Russian River. In Healdsburg, with a population of about 12,000, others were warned Wednesday night to be able to flee.
Ash and smoke filled the air in San Francisco, which is surrounded by forest fires to the north, east and south. The LNU Lightning Complex consists of several fires in five counties north of San Francisco, adding Vacaville, a city of approximately 100,000 more people between San Francisco and Sacramento.
The nearby Travis Air Force Base ordered an essential workforce to evacuate the mission, authorities said.
The chimney had been fed in nearly 502 square kilometers on Wednesday night, a domain larger than the length of San Jose.
He jumped Interstate 80 on Wednesday afternoon, blocking traffic in both directions.
Several thousand people were ordered to evacuate from the small communities of Angwin and Deer Park.
Police and firefighters warned citizens before they evacuated when the flames invaded Vacaville. At least 50 structures were destroyed, adding some houses, and 50 were damaged.
“The total sky is orange-red and crosses the hill and is huge. I’ve never noticed anything like this and it only took me a few minutes to get here,” Hansen said.
She evacuated her house in Vacaville on Tuesday night when the flames rushed into her small farm, packing her small animals but unable to bring two beloved horses. They returned Wednesday to locate the destroyed space and barn, but Hansen was extremely happy to see that his horses had survived.
“I’m disappointed by the house. I’m glad my horses and animals are alive and my daughter,” he said.
In eastern San Francisco Bay, an organization of 20 separate chimneys, known as the Lightning SCU complex, threatened about 1,400 structures in rugged terrain with dense undergrowth. The chimneys light the chimney at 344 kilometers.
South of San Francisco, in San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties, another 22,000 people were ordered to evacuate due to a fireplace in a dense wooded park, Cal Fire spokesman Jonathan Cox said.
At least 20 houses on fire, Fireplace said.
About 22 fires are part of the complex and most of them occurred in remote, dense scrub until Tuesday’s strong winds took them to more populated areas, merging some of the fires.
Resources are limited, he said, given the number of fires.
“We are in the unfortunate position where firefighters will spend several days in the line of fire,” he said. “It’s exhausting, it’s exhausting.”
In central California, a pilot of a water drop project in western Fresno County crashed his helicopter about an hour from New Coalinga Municipal Airport after 8:45 a.m. on Wednesday.
The pilot, whose call has not been released, was running with Fillmore-based Guardian Helicopters, which had a contract with CalFire to deliver emergencies as needed, said Zoe Keliher, a researcher at the National Transportation Safety Board.
Robert Satz, the company’s pilot and head of security, said he reported the turn of fate around 10:30 a.m. He said he had no additional main points and refused to identify the pilot.
The Search and Rescue team of the Fresno County Sheriff called shortly after 11 a.m. to retrieve the pilot’s body, but was unsuccessful at the crash site because it’s in the chimney area, branch spokesman Tony Botti said.
“They’re looking to put them in methodically and safely and not be exposed to fire,” he said.
The chimneys of the wine region threaten a region that last year alone lit another large chimney that forced another 200,000 people to flee, a task that this year became more confusing due to the pandemic.
“This is an incredibly moving and stressful time for most of us who have endured several wildfires in recent years,” said Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick.
In Vacaville, Solano County, 60-year-old John Gardiner spent the night awake after receiving a neighbor’s warning that the chimney was approaching just before midnight. His space and the spaces of his neighbors were safe, however, he feared that this would be replaced with equipment awaiting warm winds.
“It’s amazing: things swirled, the winds just passed like a howl, a sound of constant rupture and then you might hear the explosions,” he said. “You can taste the smoke in your mouth.”
Victoria Gregorich, 54, said her circle of relatives loaded the car and left her home in Vacaville after officers told them to evacuate around 12.30pm. The chimney destroyed its green space, but the space was saved. Your neighbors weren’t so lucky.
“It’s devastating,” he said. “I thank God for having our home.”
Elvis Castañeda, 28, and her father, Silverio, spent the afternoon moving cattle equipment to a safer place, planting and making firewalls with their tractors in their friends’ properties.
“We couldn’t see the flames, but the sky was orange and we knew it was coming towards us,” Elvis Castañeda said.
He claimed that he had returned home at 3 a.m. and had begun packing documents, photos, passports and weapons after learning that his girlfriend’s family, who lives 3 kilometres away, was ordered to safely evacuate and evacuate all of his farm animals. He ordered leave after dawn on Wednesday.
South of Carmel, nearly 80 kilometers of scenic Highway 1 along the coast were closed due to fires.
In Southern California, an 8-day chimney reached nearly 106 square kilometers near Lake Hughes in the mountains of northern Los Angeles County.
Chewing fir trees, oaks and century-old pines, the chimney continued to threaten 4,570 structures after destroying a dozen. Dangerously hot weather and rugged terrain have tested firefighters’ efforts to build containment, which is lately estimated at 36%.
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Har brought from San Francisco. Associated Press Juliet Williams, Olga R. Rodriguez and Daisy Nguyen in San Francisco contributed to the report.