New fires breaking out in California
Firefighters gain ground in wine country, as flames prove stubborn in other parts of state
SANTA ROSA, CALIF. — As crews gained on the wildfires in California’s wine country, new blazes broke out Tuesday in other parts of the state, including a fire in the mountains above Los Angeles that threatened a historic observatory and more flames in the Santa Cruz mountains.
Firefighters on the ground and in the air raced to protect the Mount Wilson Observatory and nearby communications towers from a growing brush fire northeast of Los Angeles. The blaze was initially estimated at around five acres. The observatory was evacuated.
Farther north, a fire that sprang up overnight in the southern Bay Area mountains blackened at least 125 acres and threatened 150 homes, and prompting evacuation orders. Winds stayed light, but conditions were dry. Crews dropped water on the blaze that started as a house fire.
“The idea is to hit it pretty hard with aircraft and hit it with ground resources at the same time,” said Rob Sherman, assistant chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, adding five firefighters suffered minor injuries, including one who fell down a ravine.
In the state’s winemaking region, tens of thousands of people began drifting back to their neighbourhoods — some returning to find their homes gone.
The deadliest wildfires in California history have been burning for more than a week, killing at least 41 people and destroying nearly 6,000 homes. About 34,000 people remained under evacuation Tuesday, down from 40,000 Monday.
“It’s never going to be the same,” said Rob Brown, a supervisor in Mendocino County, where all 8,000 evacuees were cleared to go home Monday. “You’re going to have to seek a new normal.”
In the hard-hit Santa Rosa, two hospitals were forced to close during the fires, leaving just one open, St. Joseph Health. Eighty-three hospital employees and 51 doctors lost homes during the fires, though many continued to report to work.
There was also good news to report. A total of 36 babies were born at St. Joseph during the week since wildfires started, which represents about three times the normal delivery rate.
Improving weather, the prospect of some light rain later in the week and tightening containment of the flames were tempered by the first death from the firefighting effort — a driver who was killed when his truck overturned on a winding mountain road. He was delivering water to the fire lines, crashed before dawn Monday in Napa County on a roadway that climbs from vineyards into the mountains.