Two California wildfires have grown into the second- and third-largest blazes in the state’s recorded history, as firefighters struggle to contain the flames that have consumed huge portions of the Bay Area.
And authorities now have to worry about looters as well, according to reports.
Fire officials said the two clusters of fires — one north of San Francisco and the other east of San Jose — have scorched some 300,000 acres (468 square miles), with more than 13,700 firefighters struggling to contain the flames that have forced 115,000 from their homes, the Wall Street Journal said.
That’s just a portion of the damage: Authorities said about 12,000 lightning strikes since Aug. 15 have helped spark blazes through large swaths of the Golden State, with the flames so far consuming a total of 915,000 acres (1,430 square miles) statewide — an area the size of Rhode Island, the Journal said.
Massive plumes of smoke from the wildfires have spread as far off as Kansas, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
“That’s a lot of smoke to be traveling that far east,” Dodge City National Weather Service forecaster Matt Gerard told the outlet. “We’ve had some pretty bright red sunrises and sunsets, and the smoke up in the atmosphere coming overhead really gives the sky a grayish look.”
“I heard someone make the comment that the air smelled like roasting s’mores, and that’s not something we usually get out here.”
The National Weather Service in California has issued a “red flag” warning through Monday afternoon for drought-stricken areas near Santa Cruz, cautioning that winds gusting up to 65 mph and high temperatures “may result in dangerous and unpredictable fire behavior.”
California firefighters, drawn largely from local departments, are now in a race against time as they scramble to dig breaks in the blaze before windy weather moves in and potentially brings more lightning strikes, CBS News reported.
Authorities said efforts to beat back the flames have been hindered by homeowners who refuse to evacuate and by widespread looting in neighborhoods where residents have fled, the station said.
Santa Cruz County Sheriff Jim Hart said he had 100 officers patrolling the evacuation zone with orders to arrest anyone not authorized to be there.
“What we’re hearing from the community is that there’s a lot of looting going on,” Hart said, adding that eight people had already been busted.
“I can’t imagine a bigger low-life,” the sheriff said.
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August 25, 2020 at 01:25AM
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California wildfires grow to become among largest in state's history - New York Post
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