Helicopter pilot is killed fighting California wildfire
VACAVILLE, Calif. — Crews worked in blistering heat Wednesday to beat back wildfires that ignited across Northern California, sending thousands of people from their homes into smoky air and killing a pilot on a firefighting mission.
Hundreds of fires are burning across the state, including including 23 major fires or groups of fires that Gov. Gavin Newsom blamed on “this extraordinary weather we’re experiencing and all of these lightning strikes.” He said California has recorded nearly 11,000 lightning strikes in 72 hours and knows of 367 fires.
Ash and smoke filled the air in San Francisco, which is surrounded by wildfires burning to the north, east and south. The LNU Lightning fire is made up of several fires in five counties north of San Francisco, including in Vacaville, and had consumed 72 square miles.
Police and firefighters went door-to-door before dawn in a frantic scramble to warn residents to evacuate as flames encroached on Vacaville, a city of about 100,000 between San Francisco and Sacramento. At least 50 structures were destroyed, including some homes, and 50 were damaged.
John Gardiner, 60, stayed up all night after receiving an alert from a neighbor of oncoming fire just before midnight. His house and neighbors’ homes were still safe, but he worried that could change with crews anticipating hot winds.
“It was incredible — things swirling, winds just whipping through like a howling, ripping sound and then you could hear explosions going off,” he said. “You can taste smoke in your mouth.”
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said in a statement that the helicopter that crashed was fighting a wildfire in the central part of the state and the pilot was the only one aboard.
In eastern San Francisco Bay, a cluster of 20 separate lightning-sparked fires called the SCU Lightning complex was threatening about 1,400 structures in rugged terrain with dense brush. The fires have torched 133 square miles.
To the south of San Francisco in San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties, about 22,000 people were ordered to evacuate because of a fire burning in dense wooded parkland that threatened communities, Cal Fire spokesman Jonathan Cox said.
In Southern California, an 8-day-old blaze grew to more than 40 square miles near Lake Hughes in northern Los Angeles County mountains.
Chewing through century-old fir, oak and pine, the fire continued to be a threat to 4,570 structures after destroying a dozen. Dangerously hot weather and rough terrain challenged firefighters’ efforts to increase containment, currently estimated at 38 percent.