Featured Post

Tracking air pollution disparities -- daily -- from space

Studies have shown that pollution, whether from factories or traffic-snarled roads, disproportionately affects communities where economicall...

Friday, November 1, 2019

New California fire grows as crews make headway on other blazes



SOMIS, CA - NOVEMBER 01: An avocado farm burns in the Maria Fire, which exploded to 8,000 acres on its first night, on November

An avocado farm burns in the Maria Fire, which exploded to 8,000 acres on its first night, on November 1, 2019 near Somis, California.
More

A new wildfire in California grew to nearly 9,000 acres on Friday, sending thousands of people fleeing and further stretching resources in a state dealing with a spate of wildfires this season.

The so-called Maria Fire erupted Thursday evening in Ventura County, 65 miles northwest of Los Angeles, and burned out of control through the night, driven by and threatening 1,800 structures.


Hundreds of firefighters backed by air tankers and helicopters battled the blaze, which was zero percent contained as of Friday morning.


Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub said crews had been thwarted by someone flying a drone late Thursday.


"Our firefighting aerial efforts were hampered by someone flying ... a small drone apparently looking at photography of the fire," he told reporters. "This created quite a dangerous situation. It's not only illegal but it hampers our firefighting efforts."


Another fire in the county, the Easy Fire, which broke out Wednesday and came dangerously close to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in the Simi Valley, was almost fully contained on Friday.


Up in Sonoma County, north of San Francisco, there was more good news as authorities reported that the Kincade Fire, the largest in the state this season, was 65 percent contained.




A structure devastated by the Kincade Fire off Briggs Ranch Road in Kellogg, California on October 31, 2019.

A structure devastated by the Kincade Fire off Briggs Ranch Road in Kellogg, California on October 31, 2019.
More


The multiple fires that have erupted throughout the state in the last two weeks prompted California Governor Gavin Newsom to declare a statewide emergency this week.


The wildfires have been fed by bone-dry conditions, especially in the lower part of the state which has not had rainfall for months.


A rare extreme red flag warning issued for the Los Angeles area this week was lifted Thursday but the National Weather Service warned that so-called Santa Ana winds could still wreak havoc through Friday evening.


In a bid to reduce the risk of wildfires, the state's largest utility company, Pacific Gas & Electric, has been shutting off power to millions of customers in northern and central California, prompting outrage.


The blazes come as California is still reeling from the aftermath of the most destructive in state history—the Camp Fire, which destroyed the town of Paradise and killed 86 people last year.


Similar blazes in northern California, including in the Napa and Sonoma wine regions, killed 44 people in 2017 and destroyed thousands of structures.


There have been no fatalities linked to this year's fires.




Explore further



Firefighters battle new blazes in California



© 2019 AFP






Citation:
New California fire grows as crews make headway on other blazes (2019, November 1)
retrieved 1 November 2019
from https://phys.org/news/2019-11-california-crews-headway-blazes.html



This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.








#Environment | https://sciencespies.com/environment/new-california-fire-grows-as-crews-make-headway-on-other-blazes/

No comments:

Post a Comment