Crews get break from wildfire ravaging Calif. wine country
SAN FRANCISCO — Easing winds gave California firefighters a break Tuesday as they battled a destructive wildfire that was driven by strong winds through wine country north of San Francisco and another rural blaze that killed three people.
Breezes replaced the powerful gusts that sent the Glass Fire raging through Napa and Sonoma counties Sunday and Monday, scorching more than 66 square miles.
At least 95 buildings have burned in wine country, including homes and winery installations. A wildfire burning farther north in rural Shasta County has destroyed another 146 buildings.
The fire in wine country pushed through brush that had not burned for a century, even though surrounding areas were incinerated in blazes in recent years.
As the winds easedMonday evening, firefighters were feeling “much more confident,” said Ben Nicholls, a division chief with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, knownas Cal Fire.
“We don’t have those critical burning conditions that we were experiencing those last two nights,” he said.
The Glass Fire is one of nearly 30 wildfires burning around California.
The National Weather Service warned that hot, dry conditions with strong Santa Ana winds could continue posing a fire danger in Southern California through Tuesday afternoon.
In a forested far northern part of the state, more than 1,200 people were evacuated in Shasta County for the Zogg Fire, which has burned at least 62 square miles.
Three people have died in the fire, Shasta County Sheriff Eric Magrini said Monday.
Magrini gave no details but urged people who receive evacuation orders: “Do notwait.”
Numerous studies in recent years have linked bigger wildfires in America to climate change from the burning of coal, oil and gas. Scientists say climate change has madeCalifornia much drier, meaning trees and other plants are more flammable.
Residences are widely scattered in Shasta County, whichwas torched just two yearsagoby the deadly Carr Fire — infamously remembered for producing a huge tornado-like firewhirl.
Pacific Gas & Electric had cut power to more than 100,000 customers in advance of gusty winds and in areas with active fire zones. The utility’s equipment has caused previous disasters, including the 2018 Camp Fire that killed 85 people and devastated the town of Paradise in the Sierra Nevada foothills.
By Monday night, the utility said it had restored electricity to essentially all of those customers. However, PG&E said about 24,000 people remained without power in areas affected by two fires in Napa, Sonoma, Shasta and Tehama counties.
So far in this year’s historic fire season, more than 8,100 California wildfires have killed 29 people, scorched5,780square miles and destroyed more than 7,000 buildings.