Wildfires surge amid scorching heat in West
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-year-old 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, set a heat record for the day before noon, hitting 94 degrees. By midafternoon, it was 101 in the coastal city — hotter than Phoenix. With an all-time high of 106 on Friday, it became just the third time since the 1870s that San Francisco had back-to-back triple-digit days.
Temperatures reached 115 south of the city. It was a rare heat wave at a time of year that San Francisco residents usually call “Fogust” for its cloudy chill.
In Los Angeles, hundreds of firefighters battled flames that chewed through nearly 8 square miles of brush-covered mountains as authorities issued mandatory or voluntary evacuation orders for more than 700 homes in Los Angeles, Burbank and Glendale.
Tourists snapped shots of their planes landing against a backdrop of orange flames in the hills near Hollywood Burbank airport.
Garcetti declared an emergency and asked the governor to do the same. Jerry Brown complied so that state and federal assistance would be provided quickly.
Fires up and down California’s Sierra Nevada and further to the northwest cast an eerie yellow and gray haze. In the Sierra foothills, authorities opened a center where evacuated residents could find out if their home was one of 44 destroyed in a blaze about 70 miles north of Sacramento.
Another wildfire burning near Yosemite had grown to 8.5 square miles and entered the Nelder Grove of 106 giant sequoias, despite firefighters’ efforts to stave it off.
Fire officials said they had no immediate information Saturday on whether any of the giant trees — including the 100-foot-round, 24-story-high Bull Buck sequoia — had burned.
Around the West, the National Interagency Fire Center said more than 25,000 firefighters and personnel were fighting 56 large uncontained wildfires, including 21 in Montana and 17 in Oregon.
Fire weather warnings were in effect for parts of Wyoming, South Dakota and Montana, where blazes spanned more than 850 square miles.