Southern California:
Crews brace for return of Santa Ana winds.
Firefighters got a better grip Saturday on the blazes scorching Southern California, but they took little comfort in that — or in the governor’s visit to the embattled region — knowing the Santa Ana winds were again poised to stoke the flames.
Throughout the day as the weather gave them a temporary break, firefighters managed to increase containment on all six major fires tearing through San Diego, Ventura, Riverside and Los Angeles counties.
“Things went well overnight, the winds weren’t as bad as they had been on Thursday,” a particularly bad wind day, said Lynne Tolmachoff, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire. “We made lots of progress, and quite a few evacuations have been lifted.”
But with National Weather Service forecasters predicting a quick return of stiff winds through Sunday, nobody was letting up in the firefight.
“This fire could not have started at a worse time,” said Ventura County fire behavior analyst Brendan Ripley. “We’re hoping for a reprieve from the winds. Unfortunately, over the next 10 days, there’s no rain or moisture in the forecast.”
Gov. Jerry Brown visited the region Saturday for the first time since the blazes broke out a week ago, and he said he believed long periods of drought and hotter weather mean California residents are facing a “new reality” threatening their lives and their homes.
“It’s been a terrible tragedy for so many people,” Brown said in Ventura at the incident command post for the Thomas Fire. “This is kind of the new normal.”
Brown called it a time to do more, not less, when it comes to investing in infrastructure.
“I hope the folks in Washington realize that as they’re spending money or helping others spend it by giving various tax breaks, we need to invest in our firefighting capacity, our infrastructure, our energy,” he said.
The Ventura County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed the first death related to the region’s fires as Virginia Pesola, a 70-year-old woman from Santa Paula. Pesola died Wednesday in her car along an evacuation route, and the medical examiner said the cause of death was blunt force injuries, along with smoke inhalation and heat injuries.
“This tragic death is the only confirmed fire-related death in Ventura County to date,” medical examiner Christoper Young said Saturday.
The Thomas Fire, which ignited last Sunday night near Ventura, remained the largest blaze. By Saturday, it had consumed another few thousand acres overnight to bring its burn area to 155,000 acres — bigger than San Francisco and Oakland combined. It was 15 percent contained Saturday night.
“It’s so large now that it’s just following whatever fuel it can chew up,” Tolmachoff said.
Most of that spread is on the fire’s northern edge, pushing it into high-elevation, rural areas. The isolated regions, with limited roads, make access to battling it difficult, she said. The upside is that the blaze is creeping away from more populated areas.
On Saturday afternoon, the fire moved into Santa Barbara County. But the movement was expected, and fire officials said they were not as concerned because the region is mountainous with very few structures.
Friday’s drop in wind speeds continued into Saturday. James Brotherton, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Diego, said that Saturday was much less windy than earlier in the week.
Firefighters seized on the lull to boost containment numbers, but Brotherton said that lucky break is coming to an end. Difficult firefighting conditions were predicted to return by Sunday.
“Tomorrow and tonight are going to be really critical, with stronger winds while it’s still very dry,” he said Saturday.
Wind gusts may reach 60 mph Sunday, Cal Fire reported, with sustained speeds of 20 to 30 mph.
Temperatures are hovering 10 to 15 degrees above their seasonal average, with relative humidity levels barely tipping into the double digits.
The south state’s six major fires have burned more than 182,000 acres and destroyed 793 structures, Cal Fire reported. As it continues to burn, the Thomas Fire threatens 15,000 homes and has prompted the evacuation of 88,000 residents.
President Trump declared a federal state of emergency for the West Coast on Friday, directing federal assistance to supplement state and local emergency response for the second time since two dozen fires ripped through Northern California in October, killing 44 people and destroying thousands of homes.
Firefighters have been stretched thin over the past week as one blaze pops up after another. Some have been extinguished or contained quickly, but San Diego County’s Lilac Fire shot up to 4,100 acres and leveled at least 105 structures.
Three people were burned escaping the Lilac Fire, according to Cal Fire, and at least 20 homes and a mobile retirement community were among the buildings destroyed. The fire was 50 percent contained Saturday.
Firefighters have managed to get the upper hand on four other blazes.
The 15,619-acre Creek Fire was 85 percent contained by Saturday evening. The Liberty Fire near Murrieta in Riverside County was 100 percent contained after chewing through 300 acres.
The 6,049-acre Rye Fire in Santa Clarita (Los Angeles County), which started Tuesday, was 80 percent contained. The over 400-acre Skirball Fire, which broke out Wednesday morning in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, was 75 percent contained.