Fires across state destroy homes, fill air with smoke

One of the worst wildfire seasons in recent California history was sending smoke into nearly every corner of the state Friday, turning skies into a soupy, gray haze and triggering unhealthy-air warnings, even in Bay Area cities that usually benefit from a protective ocean breeze.

Dozens of fires burning from San Diego County to the Oregon border, many destroying homes and forcing thousands to flee, were fanned by record and near-record temperatures that are expected to continue through the weekend.

Fire officials feared that continued heat in the forecast combined with the throngs of people expected to take to the forests and foothills for fun over the Labor Day holiday would only add to the fire danger.

“We want people to be extremely careful this weekend … with campfires, with truck chains,” said Scott McLean, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as Cal Fire. “September and October are historically the two months when we see the largest fires and most devastating fires. That’s what we’re going into now.”

On Friday, Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency for Butte County, where a destructive fire east of Lake Oroville destroyed 20 homes and threatened 500 more. More than 1,000 people were under evacuation orders, including residents of the small community of Feather Falls, named after the popular 410-foot waterfall nearby.

The 3,715-acre Ponderosa Fire began Tuesday when an illegal campfire escaped its pit, according to Cal Fire officials. State investigators have since arrested a 29-year-old Oroville man who they say was responsible. The fire was reported to be 40 percent contained Friday night.

Much of the smoke spilling into the Bay Area, officials said, was coming from the destructive Helena Fire in Trinity County, about 250 miles north of San Francisco. Brown declared a state of emergency there a day earlier.

The 5,170-acre blaze had demolished 130 structures, either homes or outbuildings, near the community of Junction City. The fire, which ignited Wednesday, continued to burn out of control in the Trinity Alps, with firefighters reporting no containment late Friday.

Farther south, several fires ravaged the forests in and around Yosemite National Park. The Railroad Fire, which had scorched 4,360 acres north of the community of Oakhurst along Highway 41 just outside the park, prompted the closure of Yosemite’s southern entrance. Park officials were advising visitors to enter on Highway 140 or Highway 120.

Fires have also closed Glacier Point Road within the park and several of the trails in the Wawona area.

So far this year, wildfires have charred just over 500,000 acres statewide, about 30,000 more acres than had burned at this time last year and well above average for the period. State officials chalk up the busy season to the bumper crop of vegetation that emerged after the wet winter.

“We’re well above all the stats at the moment,” McLean said, “and there’s just no relief in sight.”

Large wildfires were also burning in Northern Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Idaho in the run-up to the holiday weekend, all contributing to the smoke that hung over much of the West.

In the Bay Area, air regulators advised children and the elderly with respiratory problems to stay indoors because of particulate matter spawned by the fires — on top of the record heat and smog.

“We have a double whammy here,” said Kristine Roselius, spokeswoman for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. Kurtis Alexander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kalexander@sfchronicle. com Twitter: @kurtisalexander