More than 50,000 evacuate as Calif. wildfires threaten homes
Thousands of people remained under evacuation orders in regions around the San Francisco Bay Area on Thursday as wildfires blazed across the state amid a blistering heat wave now in its second week.
In all, according to Cal Fire, more than 50,000 California residents have evacuated because of fires that are burning about 780 square miles across the state. That’s an area equal to about half the size of Rhode Island.
Statewide, as of Thursday afternoon, officials said the fires have destroyed 175 structures, including homes, and are threatening 50,000 more. Thirty-three civilians and firefighters have been injured in the blazes.
One of the worst fires, the ferocious LNU Lightning Complex Fire in Napa and Sonoma counties, more than doubled in size Wednesday night into Thursday morning to over 190 square miles, Cal Fire said.
The fire has burned more than 100 buildings, including some homes, and threatens 25,000 others. The LNU Lightning Complex was the largest fire burning in California on Thursday, according to Cal Fire.
In an alert issued just after 7 p.m. Wednesday, the Travis Air Force base commander ordered a partial evacuation of “non-mission essential personnel” because of the fire.
Wednesday afternoon, the fire jumped Interstate 80, forcing highway officials to close a 5-mile section of freeway.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said firefighters are battling 367 known wildfires across
California, including 23 that are considered major fires. Of those 367 fires, “the prospect of that number going up is very real,” he said at a press conference Wednesday.
Newsom blamed “the extraordinary weather we’re experiencing and all of these lightning strikes” for the fires. He said the state recorded nearly 11,000 lightning strikes in 72 hours.
Cal Fire spokesperson Jeremy Rahn called it a “historic lightning siege.”
Daniel Berlant, Cal Fire assistant deputy director, said the blazes were “definitely a historic lightning event. The last time we had a lightning siege that was even comparable was in 2008.”
Much of California is enduring a sweltering late summer heat wave that has broken several record highs in recent days, according to Weather.com.
Widespread elevated and critical fire weather conditions were expected Thursday across central California and the Great Basin, the National Weather Service said. Hot dry and windy conditions are likely, and isolated dry thunderstorms may also develop Thursday afternoon.
The hot, dry conditions are expected to continue at least into the weekend.
In all, about 21 million people were under excessive heat warnings in the West, mainly in California, Arizona and Nevada.