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A heat wave over Labor Day weekend that sparked new wildfires in California has pushed the state to set a new record for the number of acres burned, as dramatic evacuations continue for a fire called an “unprecedented disaster.” .
As of Monday, wildfires have devastated more than 2 million acres of land in the Golden State. Crews were conducting active rescue operations to save the people surrounded by the flames.
“It’s a bit puzzling because September and October are historically the worst fire months,” Cal Fire spokeswoman Lynne Tolmachoff told The Associated Press. “It is usually hot and fuels get very dry. And we see more of our wind events. “
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Tolmachoff said the new record was so surprising how early it was set.
In this Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020, file photo, a helicopter prepares to drop water on a wildfire in Yucaipa, California.
(AP Photo / Ringo HW Chiu, file)
The previous record was set just two years ago and included the deadliest fire in state history, the Camp Fire that raged through Paradise in November 2018 and killed 85 people.
A fire truck travels along State Highway 168 as it battles the Creek Fire in the Shaver Lake community of Fresno County, California, Monday, Sept. 7, 2020.
(AP Photo / Noah Berger)
Two of the three largest fires in state history are burning in the San Francisco Bay Area. More than 14,000 firefighters are fighting those fires and about two dozen more in California.
In the central part of the state, the explosive Creek Fire has grown to more than 135,000 acres in just three days after exploding over the weekend.
Smoke from the Creek Fire rises into the sky at a road closure Monday, Sept. 7, 2020, in Shaver Lake, California.
(AP Photo / Marcio José Sánchez)
Cal Fire said the fire remains 0% contained and continues to grow under “extreme fire conditions.”
A firefighter battles the Creek fire in the Shaver Lake community of Fresno County, California, Monday, Sept. 7, 2020.
(AP Photo / Noah Berger)
At least 65 structures have been destroyed due to evacuations in the area. Fresno County Sheriff’s Lt. Brandon Purcell told the Fresno Bee Monday that the fire was “an unprecedented disaster for Fresno County.”
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Firefighters said Monday night that at least one death had been reported in the area from the fire, but officials told FOX26 that an elderly man collapsed due to a medical episode and was not related to the fire.
On Saturday, National Guard rescuers in two military helicopters took 214 people to safety after flames trapped them in a wooded camping area near the Mammoth Pool Reservoir. Two people were seriously injured and were among the 12 hospitalized.
On Monday night, a military helicopter tried but failed to land near Lake Edison to rescue people trapped in the fire, the Fresno Fire Department said on Twitter. The department tweeted that “the military pilots bravely tried to land but strong smoke conditions prevented a safe approach. Another effort will be made shortly to evacuate people trapped at Lake Edison and China Peak using night vision.”
Chief Warrant Officer Joseph Rosamond, a Chinook helicopter pilot, told the Associated Press that visibility was poor and winds were getting stronger during his three flights to the fire zone during the operation that began Saturday night. and it lasted until Sunday. His crew relied on night vision goggles to search for a landing site near a jetty where the flames reached 50 feet from the plane.
The injured, along with women and children, took priority on the first airlift, which filled both helicopters to maximum capacity, he said.
“We started to get information on how many people there were, how many people to wait, and that number kept growing. So we knew it was a desperate situation, ”said Rosamond.
Hundreds of campers were trapped over the Labor Day holiday weekend by the explosive fire.
Jeremy Remington was camping at Mammoth Pool Reservoir with his family celebrating his mother’s retirement when they found themselves surrounded by wildfire.
Videos taken by Remington show that they first tried unsuccessfully to escape by boat and then, finally, they were rescued by helicopter. The images also show the burned landscape around him.
Fire danger is also high in Southern California, where new fires were burning in Los Angeles, San Bernardino and San Diego counties.
Firefighter Nick Grinstead battles the Creek Fire in the Shaver Lake community of Fresno County, California, Monday, Sept. 7, 2020.
(AP Photo / Noah Berger)
The US Forest Service decided Monday to close all eight national forests in the region and close camps across the state.
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“Existing fires are showing extreme fire behavior, new fires are likely to start, weather conditions are getting worse, and we just don’t have enough resources to fight and contain all fires,” said Randy Moore, Southwest Region regional forester. Pacific Forest Service covering California, he told the AP.
Smoke from the Creek Fire fills the air over a marina, Monday, Sept. 7, 2020, in Shaver Lake, California.
(AP Photo / Marcio José Sánchez)
More than 14,000 firefighters fight fires in about two dozen wildfires across the state.
Firefighters brace near an Edison power plant in Southern California to protect it from the creeping creek fire, Sunday, Sept. 6, 2020, in Big Creek, Calif.
(AP Photo / Marcio José Sánchez)
California has seen 900 wildfires since August 15, many of them started by an intense series of thousands of lightning strikes in mid-August. There have been at least eight confirmed fire deaths and more than 3,300 structures destroyed.
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A fire was started by a gender reveal party, authorities revealed Sunday night.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
