Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Emergency declared in California
Evacuations rise as winds fan wildfires
SANTA ROSA, Calif. — California’s governor declared a statewide emergency Sunday after officials ordered nearly 200,000 people to leave their homes as hurricane-force winds drove multiple wildfires through bone-dry vegetation. Meanwhile, the state’s largest utility cut electricity to millions of residents as a precaution to prevent more areas from igniting.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement that officials were deploying “every resource available” to respond to the wildfires, including a large blaze in Northern California’s wine country powered by gusts that reached more than 102 mph.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, two grass fires briefly halted traffic on a bridge. The flames moved dangerously close to homes in Vallejo. Smoke from another grass fire Sunday forced the closure of a stretch of
Interstate 80 running through Sacramento’s downtown area.
In Southern California, a wildfire in the Santa Clarita area near Los Angeles destroyed 18 structures. As of Sunday, the Tick Fire was 70% contained.
The biggest evacuation was in Northern California’s Sonoma County, where 180,000 people were told to pack up and leave.
In a flurry of predawn alerts Sunday, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the Sonoma County sheriff’s office told residents in the northern part of Santa Rosa, as well as areas southwest and northeast of the city, to evacuate immediately.
About 200 patients were evacuated from two medical centers, Kaiser Permanente and Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital, and were relocated to safer facilities, according to hospital and fire officials.
To prevent its power lines from sparking in the high winds and setting off more blazes, Pacific Gas & Electric shut off power to 2.3 million people across at least 36 counties over the weekend. Electricity is expected to be restored today, though the utility warned it might cut power again as soon as Tuesday because of another forecast of strong winds that are expected to last until Wednesday.
Almost all the outages had begun by Sunday afternoon. Pacific Gas & Electric said its goal is to restore power to a “vast majority” of customers within 48 hours after the winds have died down.
As utility customers faced this month’s third extended blackout, outages caused now-familiar disruptions for businesses and schools and spurred new concerns that some vulnerable residents who rely on power for medical care might not be prepared.
“As your power comes back on, please use that time to prepare again,” Pacific Gas & Electric Co. President Andy Vesey urged customers Saturday.
The fear that the winds could blow embers and spread fire across a major highway prompted authorities to expand evacuation orders that covered parts of Santa Rosa, a city of 175,000 that was hit by a wildfire two years ago.
“This is the largest evacuation that any of us at the Sheriff’s Office can remember,” the Sonoma County agency tweeted Sunday morning. “Take care of each other.”
Roads were congested as residents packed up their cars and RVs to head out of the county. Traffic lights at several intersections lost power, further slowing evacuation efforts.
Hundreds of people arrived at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa by Sunday. Some arrived from senior care facilities. More than 300 people slept inside an auditorium filled with cots and wheeled beds. Scores of others stayed in a separate building with their pets.
Sonoma County Sheriff
Mark Essick urged residents in the evacuation zone, stretching from the wine country to Bodega Bay on the coast, to get out immediately, citing the 24 lives lost when fire swept through the region in October 2017.
“Although I’ve heard people express concerns that we are evacuating too many people, I think those concerns are not valid at this point,” Essick said at a news conference Sunday, noting that the winds pushed fire toward the towns of Healdsburg and Windsor overnight.
The Kincade Fire began Wednesday night and was only 10% contained as of Sunday morning, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. The wildfire has burned 47 square miles and destroyed 79 structures.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, winds toppled trees and caused outages in areas where the utility had not shut off power. The gusts knocked over a 30-foot tree at a farmers market in the city of Martinez, injuring nine people, including a toddler. Six people were taken to a hospital, but the injuries were not life-threatening, police said.
During fires in 2017, winds gusting up to 90 mph lasted for about 12 hours. This time, the gusts were stronger and expected to last over 36 hours, ending tonight, said Matt Mehle, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Monterey office.
The windy conditions could blow embers and spark fires up to a mile away. Fire officials said they feared that if the Kincade Fire crosses U.S. 101, it could ignite an area that hasn’t burned in 80 years.
“The fuel in that area is extremely dense; they’re extremely old and dry,” said Steve Volmer, a fire behavior analyst with California Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection.
Forecasters said low humidity and abnormally dry vegetation had created tinderbox conditions, which, combined with the high winds, were enough to encourage the spread of fires.
Two grass fires shut down a 6-mile stretch of Interstate 80, including a bridge between the cities of Crockett and Vallejo, and forced the evacuation of 200 people from California State University Maritime Academy. An ember from one fire possibly sparked the other.
The city of Vallejo said the power blackout shut off the pumping station needed to access its well water, prompting a water emergency. The city is barring residents from watering their yards and asking people to limit bathing and flushing toilets, according to The Vallejo Reporter.
To prevent its power lines from sparking in the high winds and setting off more blazes, Pacific Gas & Electric shut off power to 2.3 million people across at least 36 counties over the weekend.