L.A. battles city’s biggest wildfire
San Francisco swelters under record heat, trains ordered to slow down
SONOMA, California — Vineyards moved their wine harvest to the cool of night and transit trains slowed for fear that some of the hottest weather in San Francisco Bay Area history would warp rails Saturday, as stifling temperatures and the smoky pall of wildfires marked an unofficial end to summer across the U.S. West.
In Los Angeles, a wildfire just north of downtown had grown to the largest in city history, Mayor Eric Garcetti said. Three structures had burned, at least two of them homes, but fire officials said they were confident they could tame the blaze unless winds picked up.
Wildfires also entered a 2,700-yearold grove of giant sequoia trees near Yosemite National Park and have driven people from their homes in Washington state, Oregon, Montana and other areas struggling with a weeklong heat wave that’s gripped the region.
San Francisco, meanwhile, recorded its highest temperature in 150 years of recording keeping, reaching 41 C (106 degrees Fahreinheit) on Friday. The previous record was 39 C, set in 2000, according to the National Weather Service. On Saturday, San Francisco had a high of 40 C. A cooldown is expected today with a high of 29 C.
Temperatures reached 46 C south of the city on Saturday. It was a rare heat wave at a time of year that San Francisco residents usually call “Fogust” for its cloudy chill.
The region was so hot that officials with the Bay Area Rapid Transit system ordered trains to slow down on rails that were exposed to sun, expecting the heat would expand and possibly shift the metal track slightly, spokeswoman Alicia Trost said.
The weekend also broke heat records in wine counties north of San Francisco, where Labour Day for some vineyards marks the start of the busy grape harvest.
“We had been hoping for a mellow season,” Kat Doescher, senior winemaker at Madrone Estate Winery outside Sonoma, said shortly after sunrise. She inspected the chardonnay grapes that workers had harvested overnight under lights. “But I look at the forecasts, and I see a heat wave that’s not getting any cooler.”
Other vineyard managers fretted over how best to soothe and when to pick their own heat-stressed grapes.
In Los Angeles, hundreds of firefighters battled flames that chewed through nearly 20 kilometres of brushcovered mountains as authorities issued mandatory or voluntary evacuation orders for more than 700 homes in Los Angeles, Burbank and Glendale.
A fire about 129 kilometre southeast of Seattle has burned more than 60 square kilometres and led to new evacuation notices Saturday. About 3,800 homes were threatened, authorities said. Dozens of wildfires in Oregon were sending up large plumes of smoke, causing disruptions in holiday travel as roads close and shutting down camping areas.