Yesterday, nearly 11,000 firefighters beat back the flames and made good progress towards the containment of now 15 large wildfires across California. 217,566 acres have burned in the current 15 large fires, with an estimated 5,700 structures destroyed. Sadly, the death toll has risen to 40 people. As progress has been made on several fronts, many evacuations have been able to be lifted. As of Sunday morning, nearly 75,000 people remain evacuated.
Winds across Northern California have been fairly light this morning and the earlier Red Flag Warnings for the area will be lifted at 8a.m. In Southern California, Red Flag Warnings remain in effect due to gusty winds, low humidity and high fire danger. The winds are likely to continue throughout the day.
Atlas Fire, Napa & Solano Counties
South of Lake Berryessa and northeast of Napa
51,057 acres, 56% contained
6 civilian fatalities
Significant structures destroyed
CENTRAL LNU COMPLEX (4 fires)
In unified command with Santa Rosa Fire Department & Sonoma County Sheriff
CAL FIRE Incident Management Team assigned
20 civilian fatalities
Tubbs Fire, Sonoma and Napa Counties
Between Calistoga and Santa Rosa
35,470 acres, 60% contained
Significant number of structures destroyed
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The California PUC is pointing the blame at the power company
https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2017/10/13/pge-plunges-on-concern-its-power-lines-may-have-started-california-wildfires.html
Arson
its greenhouse warming
I have to wonder if the anti-logging movement bears some responsibility for at least some of the destruction. Too many crowded pine trees equals a lot of fuel!
Having driven through that area many times I’m pretty sure there’s nothing worth logging near Napa or Sonoma.
There’s more than one factor. Complete fire-suppression for 100 years allowed too many trees to grow and fire-susceptible brush to proliferate. The brush then lifts the fire up into a crown fire.
Global warming allows pine beetles to spread, killing millions of pine trees and creating fuel for a fire.
People building houses in the forests make them more susceptible.
And yes, if you cut down the trees, there’s less stuff to burn. I don’t want to live in a world without trees, so you can’t clearcut everything, but increased logging in pine beetle kill zones might be a good thing.