Hundreds of fires are raging across California, forcing tens of thousands of residents – who were already before blackouts and the coronavirus pandemic – to flee their homes. The flames, ignited by lightning and ignited by a raging heat wave and fierce wind, quickly spread, overwhelming the state fire department and first responders.
“It’s kind of an overwhelming fire tax,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA’s Institute for Environment and Sustainability.
The state is currently battling 367 known fires, Gavin Newsom reported at a news conference on Wednesday. “We are currently being challenged,” the governor said. The state was struck by lightning 10,849 times over the course of 72 hours, he reported. The unusual lightning storm and a historic hot wave have led to a particularly fiery fire season this year, officials said.
Asked how officials will handle the overlapping crisis of heat, fire and the pandemic at the same time, Newsom responded: “The future happens here first.”
A cluster of wildfires in Napa, Sonoma and Solano counties now occupies an estimated 46,225 acres, according to Cal Fire, the state fire department. The flames have destroyed at least 50 buildings and structures and remain largely unrestricted, coming just three years after devastating fires killed 22 and destroyed many wineries in the region.
By Wednesday morning, firefighters and police were rushing door-to-door in Vacaville, Solano County, to evacuate residents. At least 50 structures were destroyed and four people were injured, according to officials. Television reporters and local residents shared images of roads, completely flanked by flames, black land and columns of smoke billowed by neighbors. Ash sprinkled swaths of state, dusting dust in gray.
The ash and soot that have penetrated the state are mainly due to the coronavirus pandemic – because evidence is building that air pollution makes people more susceptible to Covid-19.
Fires were burning in every county in Bay Bay, but urban San Francisco. “That actually is burning everywhere in the bay area everywhere,” Swain said.
In southern California, the Lake Fire has been rooting northeast of Los Angeles for more than a week, spreading over more than 21,000 acres. The Dome fire has burned food across more than 43,000 acres, including the Mojave National Preservation near the California-Nevada border – burning ancient Joshua trees.
“In the state of California, we are now thin for streaks,” Will Powers, a spokesman for the state fire, told the AP. “Air sources are thin straw all over the state.” California is asking the entire country for help, seeking hundreds of fire engines and more than 1,000 crew members and first responders.
On Tuesday, Newsom, the California governor, declared a state of emergency, seeking help to mobilize inside and outside California. “We use every available resource to keep communities safe as California fights over the state in these extreme conditions,” Newsom said. “California and its federal and local partners are working in the final stages to meet the challenge and remain vigilant in the face of continuing dangerous weather conditions.”
The heatwave that began this weekend and the rare lightning storms that brought even rarer fire tornadoes, “really set the scene for something that could be truly catastrophic,” he said.
“The problem we’re facing now is that there is no obvious way to control these fires,” said Chris Field, director of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, as they burn through areas with dry wood and brush. “It’s just hard to stop them once they’re picked up.”
The National Interagency Fire Center had warned of a higher potential for fires over much of western and southwestern America, with 2020 on course to be one of the hottest and driest years on record. This winter, not a single drop of rain fell on San Francisco and Sacramento in February – and a hot spring dried out fiery vegetation throughout much of the state.
“We are in an era in California and in the West where burns are increasing year by year, increasing dramatically due to climate change,” Field said. “This will become our new reality.”
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