Battling Blazes
Fifteen serious wildfires rage throughout California
LOS ANGELES—This is the new normal: There are 15 serious wildfires burning throughout California, including one of the deadliest and most destructive in the state’s history.
Firefighters this month have been laboring under triple-digit temperatures and dry conditions to gain control over fires that have burned indiscriminately through residential neighborhoods, rolling hills and steep, forested terrain. The flames are stoked by dry brush and areas of dead trees, some of which haven’t burned in decades. As of Tuesday, 12,300 firefighters were on the lines battling infernos that have burned more than 280,000 acres across the state.
“It’s a horrendous battle,” said Scott McLean, a deputy chief with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Four men have died fighting the wildfires, and each of their deaths has highlighted the difficulties of fire containment. Two died in the Ferguson fire weeks apart, one when his bulldozer overturned and another when a falling tree struck him. In the Carr fire, an 81-year-old private bulldozer contractor and a fire prevention inspector both died in Redding after flames swept through parts of the city Thursday night. The flames and heat were so intense, they created their own weather system and tornado-like winds. Four civilians died in the same conditions.
The Carr fire in Shasta County had burned 110,154 acres by Tuesday morning and crews increased containment to 27 percent overnight. It has destroyed at least 1,236 structures—more than last year’s Thomas fire in Southern California—making it the seventh most destructive and the 13th deadliest wildfire in California history, according to state figures. The majority of the damage was in west Redding and some surrounding areas. As damage assessments continue, McLean expects the fire’s ranking to climb even higher.
About 10,000 Carr fire evacuees were allowed back into their homes on Monday, but 27,000 remained displaced as of Tuesday morning, McLean said.
Crews continued to build containment lines Monday night, hampered somewhat by wind from both the east and the west, as well as steep terrain. Most of the fire activity now is on the northwest corner of the fire, McLean said, and the rising containment is a positive sign.
Tuesday’s conditions are expected to be hot and dry, with temperatures in the upper 90s to low 100s over the Carr fire, and possible wind gusts up to 18 miles per hour near the fire late Tuesday afternoon and evening, said National Weather Service meteorologist Cory Mueller.
Of the largest fires in the state, firefighters have the least containment over the two blazes in Mendocino County—the Ranch and River fires. Together they have burned 74,408 acres and are 10 percent and 8 percent contained, respectively. Those fires both ignited Friday and are burning largely in rural areas that include some rolling hills as well as rugged slopes. Firefighters are battling “a little bit of everything,” including dry fuel, weather and terrain, McLean said.
Firefighters faced wind gusts up to 17 miles per hour Monday night and could see westerly gusts of up to 20 miles per hour Tuesday afternoon and evening, Mueller said. On Monday night, firefighters worked to extinguish spot fires, according to a fire incident report. Those fires have destroyed 10 structures so far.
The Ferguson fire, near Yosemite National Park, has burned through 57,846 acres. The fire has raged in rugged forest terrain, with pockets of dangerous dead brush, grass and trees that have not seen flames for close to a century. As of Tuesday, the fire was 33 percent contained. Although no structures have been lost in the fire, two firefighters were killed and eight others injured while fighting the fire, according to authorities.
There will be a slight cooling over the Carr and Mendocino fires on Wednesday and Thursday that will be barely noticeable to firefighters, but it could help them continue to gain control of the wildfires, authorities said.
The rapid spread and high level of destruction of these recent fires is “a new normal,” McLean said. Of the state’s 20 most destructive wildfires, a quarter of them ignited in either October or December of last year. Topping the list is last year’s Tubbs fire, which killed 22 people and destroyed 5,636 structures when it sped through the city of Santa Rosa.
In Southern California, the Cranston fire near Hemet was 82 percent contained Tuesday morning after burning 13,139 acres.
A common thread in the fires this year is extreme heat, the likes of which California has never seen in the modern historical record.
In the past, there has been some reluctance among scientists to cite climate change as a major factor in California’s worsening wildfires. Human-caused ignitions and homes being built ever closer to forests have played a large role. But the connection between rising temperatures in California and tinder-dry vegetation is becoming impossible to ignore, according to experts who study climate and wildfires.
And it’s not just the biggest wildfires statewide that are taking a toll on firefighters—they’re also dispatched to quickly extinguish smaller brushfires and prevent them from spreading, McLean said.
“Last week alone, during the week, you had over 1,000 wildfire responses,” he said. “Commonly this time of year it’s maybe 250 to 300.”
The Railroad fire, a 10-acre brush fire in Santa Clarita that ignited Monday afternoon, injured three firefighters with minor burns and smoke inhalation. It was 85 percent contained by Tuesday morning, said David Michel, L.A County fire inspector. At least 13 units in two residential structures were damaged.
Los Angeles Times staff writers Alene Tchekmedyian, Ron Lin and Ruben Vives contributed to this report.