Wind likely to worsen wildfires in California
Concerns include ‘dry’ lightning, fluctuations
SAN FRANCISCO — A calm overnight allowed firefighters to make progress against a trio of massive wildfires burning in Northern California. However, they were girding for a weather system Sunday that was expected to bring high winds and thunderstorms that could spark fires and fan existing blazes that destroyed nearly 1,000 homes and other structures and forced tens of thousands to evacuate.
The “complexes,” or groups of fires, burning on all sides of the San Francisco Bay Area were started by lightning strikes that were among 12,000 registered in the state in the past week. The National Weather Service issued a “red flag” warning through Monday afternoon for the drought-stricken area, meaning extreme fire conditions including high temperatures, low humidity and wind gusts up to 65 mph that “may result in dangerous and unpredictable fire behavior.”
At a morning briefing on the
CZU Lightning Complex fire in the Santa Cruz Mountains south of San Francisco, fire officials said they had increased containment to 8 percent and with the better weather on Saturday dug more protective fire lines around vulnerable communities, including the University of California, Santa Cruz.
But there is concern about the weather and the thunderstorms that will bring high winds and “dry” lightning, a term used when such storms have little or no rain. Radar images from late morning showed lightning offshore and approaching the coast.
Chief Mark Brunton, a battalion chief for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), said the winds can blow a fire in any direction and while he’s confident firefighters did the most with the time they had to prepare, he’s not sure what to expect.
“There’s a lot of potential for things to really go crazy out there,” he said.
Another challenge for firefighters and police are people who refuse to leave the evacuation zone out of stubbornness or because they want to protect their homes and others who use the chaos to commit crimes. Brunton said he was “sickened” to learn that a fire commander was robbed while helping coordinate efforts on Saturday. Someone entered the commander’s fire vehicle and stole personal items, including a wallet, and “drained his bank account.”
At the CZU Lightning Complex fire, authorities said their effort was hindered by people who refused to heed evacuation orders and those who were using the situation to steal. Santa Cruz County Sheriff Jim Hart said 100 officers were patrolling and anyone not authorized to be in an evacuation zone would be arrested.
“What we’re hearing from the community is that there’s a lot of looting going on,” Hart said. He said eight people have been arrested or cited and “there’s going to be more.”