Brown asks Trump for wildfire aid as state battles 17 blazes
SAN FRANCISCO — Gov. Jerry Brown on Saturday called on President Donald Trump to help California fight and recover from another devastating wildfire season.
Brown, who inspected neighborhoods wiped out by a wildfire in the Northern California city of Redding, said he was confident the president he has clashed with over immigration and pollution policies would send aid, which Trump did last year when California’s wine country was hit hard.
“The president has been pretty good on helping us in disasters, so I’m hopeful,” said Brown, a Democrat. “Tragedies bring people together.”
Brown’s call for help came shortly before authorities called on residents in Glenn and Colusa counties in Northern California to evacuate as a wildfire there continues to grow.
Cal Fire issued the evacuation order Saturday night for people who live in several parts of the counties, including an area just east of the boundary of Mendocino National Forest. The blaze, known as the Mendocino Complex fire, has grown to 357 square miles and is 32 percent contained, according to Cal Fire.
The National Weather Service forecasts hot and windy conditions to persist in Northern California.
There are 17 major fires burning throughout California, authorities said. In all, they have destroyed hundreds of homes, killed eight people — including four firefighters— and shut down Yosemite National Park.
The biggest blazes continue to burn north of San Francisco, including twin wildfires fueled by dry vegetation and hot, windy weather. Those fires destroyed 55 homes and forced thousands of residents to flee their neighborhoods about 100 miles (161 kilometers) north of the city. They have grown to a combined 300 square miles (648 kilometers).
The two fires have charred an area of the forested, rural area five times the size of San Francisco and were only 27 percent contained. Thousands of people remain evacuated.
The National Weather Service issued red flag warnings of critical fire weather conditions through Saturday night, saying a series of dry low-pressure systems passing through the re-
gion could bring wind gusts of up to 35 mph (56 kph) that could turn small fires or even sparks into racing walls of flames.
“This is a particularly dangerous situation with extremely low humidity and high winds. New fires will grow rapidly out of control, in some cases people may not be able to evacuate safely in time should a fire approach,” the weather service said in its bulletin for the Mendocino area north of San Francisco.
Meteorologist Steve Anderson said temperatures will remain in the 90s in the region throughout the week with wind gusts reaching 25 mph (40 kph) during the day Sunday.
“It's not good firefighting weather,” Anderson said.
More evacuations were
ordered Saturday afternoon for an area of Mendocino and Lake counties where the week-old twin fires are threatening about 9,000 homes. The largest of the two fires was 50 percent contained.
The fire remained several miles from the evacuated communities along the eastern shore of Clear Lake, but “it looks like there's dicey weather on the way,” California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokeswoman Jane Laboa said.
However, most evacuations were lifted by
Saturday in and around Redding, where armies of firefighters and fleets of aircraft continue battling an immense blaze about 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of the Oregon line. Some areas on the fire's southeastern flank were reopened to residents.
The fire near Redding, which killed six people and incinerated 1,067 homes, started two weeks ago with sparks from the steel wheel of a towed trailer's flat tire, Department of Agriculture and Fire Precention officials said.