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NORTHERN CALIFORNIA WINE COUNTRY is on fire again as strong winds fanned flames in the already heavily burned region, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes in the dead of night.
Oakmont Gardens residents living in assisted homes in Santa Rosa boarded brightly lit city buses at night, some wearing robes and walkers. They wore masks to protect against the coronavirus as orange flames punctuated the dark sky.
The flames also engulfed the Chateau Boswell winery north of St. Helena. Adventist Health St Helena Hospital suspended care and transferred all patients to another location, according to a statement on its website.
“We just don’t have words,” State Senator Mike McGuire told KTVU-2 in Oakland. “It’s an incredibly difficult and emotional time right now.”
The fires that started yesterday in the famous Napa-Sonoma wine country north of San Francisco occurred on the third anniversary of the deadly wildfires that broke out in 2017, including one that killed 22 people.
The last one started with the Glass Fire yesterday morning and two subsequent fires merged with it, burning 17 square miles early Monday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).
Authorities did not have an estimate of the people evacuated, but Cal Fire spokesman Paul Lowenthal said more than 13,000 homes were threatened in Santa Rosa alone. He estimated that tens of thousands of people are under evacuation warnings or orders.
“In some parts of Santa Rosa, they are cleaning up hot spots,” he said. “Elsewhere, they are still actively fighting the fire.”
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Numerous studies in recent years have linked the largest wildfires in the United States to global warming from burning coal, oil, and gas, especially as climate change has made California much drier.
Evacuations were also ordered in Shasta County as the Zogg fire spanned 23 square miles. The residences are scattered widely in the wooded area, about 10 miles southwest of the town of Redding, in a region burned two years ago by the massive and deadly Carr Fire, infamously remembered for producing a massive tornado-like fire whirlwind. .
The causes of the new fires are being investigated.
They erupted when a giant high-pressure ridge settled over the west, producing powerful gusts that blew from inland toward the coast as they reduced humidity levels and raised temperatures, leaving vegetation ready to burn.
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