Winds whipping fire reach record strength
VENTURA, Calif. — Southern California has felt yellow wind, orange wind, and red wind. But never purple wind. Until now.
The colour-coded system showing the expected strength of the winds driving the region’s fierce wildfires has reached uncharted territory, pushing past red, which means “high” into the colour that means “extreme.” The forecast for Thursday was purple.
“We’ve never used purple before,” said Ken Pimlott, director at the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Southern California has already been hit hard by three major fires that have put tens of thousands of people under evacuation orders and destroyed nearly 200 homes and buildings, a figure that is almost certain to grow.
But the hard-won progress of firefighters could be erased Thursday.
“We’re talking winds that can surface that can be 80 miles (128 km) an hour,” Pimlott said. “These will be winds that there will no ability to fight fires.”
Such winds can instantly turn a tiny fire into a large one, or carry embers that spark new fires kilometres away.
Millions of cellphones buzzed loudly Tuesday night from San Diego to Santa Barbara with a sound that usually means an Amber Alert, but this time meant a rare weather warning for strong winds making extreme fire danger.
Officials hope the electronic push will keep the whole region alert and keep the death toll from the fires at zero.
Melissa Rosenzweig, 47, was briefly back home Tuesday after evacuating from her Ventura house, which has been spared so far while most on her street had burned in the largest and most destructive of the region’s fires. She and her husband were about to evacuate again, hoping they will get lucky twice as the new winds arrive.
“Heck yeah I’m still worried,” Rosenzweig said. “We’re very grateful but I know we’re not out of the woods.”
In what may have been an early sign of the 360-sq-km fire getting new life, several thousand new evacuations were ordered late Tuesday night in Ojai, a town of artists and resorts. The blaze had been creeping there already, but an increase in winds pushed it close enough for many more to flee.