Philippine Daily Inquirer

CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES: WORST IS YET TO COME

- —AP

SONOMA— Gusting winds and dry air forecast could drive the next wave of devastatin­g wildfires that were already well on their way to becoming the deadliest and most destructiv­e in California history.

Winds up to 72 kilometers per hour were expected to pummel areas north of San Francisco where up to 31 people had already died and at least 3,500 homes and businesses have been destroyed. The conditions could erase modest gains made by firefighte­rs.

“It’s going to continue to get worse before it gets better,” state fire Chief Ken Pimlott said on Wednesday.

Entire cities had evacuated in anticipati­on of the next round of flames, their streets empty, the only motion coming from ashes falling like snowflakes.

In Calistoga, a historic resort town known for wine tasting and hot springs, 5,300 people were under evacuation orders. Tens of thousands more have been driven from their homes by the flames. A few left behind cookies for firefighte­rs and signs reading, “Please save our home!”

22 fires

The 22 fires, many out of control, spanned more than 686 square kilometers as the inferno entered its fourth day. Strategic attacks that had kept wildfire destructio­n and death tolls low in recent years haven’t worked against the ferocity of the blazes.

“We are literally looking at explosive vegetation,” Pimlott said.

“Make no mistake,” he added later, “this is a serious, critical, catastroph­ic event.”

Officials said fire crews have had some progress on the deadliest fire in Sonoma County, bringing containmen­t to 10 percent.

Residents in the community of Boyes Hot Springs in Sonoma County, however, were told to clear out on Wednesday, and the streets were quickly lined with cars packed with fleeing people.

“That’s very bad,” resident Nick Hinman said when a deputy warned him that the driving winds could shift the wildfires toward the town of Sonoma, where 11,000 people live. “It’ll go up like a candle.”

The ash rained downon Sonoma Valley, covering windshield­s, as winds picked up. Countless emergency vehicles hurried to- ward the flames, sirens blaring, as evacuees sped away after jamming possession­s into their cars and filling their gas tanks.

Merger feared

Officials voiced concern that the 22 separate blazes would merge into larger infernos.

“We have had big fires in the past. This is one of the biggest, most serious, and it’s not over,” Gov. Jerry Brown said at a news conference on Wednesday, alongside the state’s top emergency officials.

They said 8,000 firefighte­rs and other personnel were battling the blazes, with more resources pouring in from Arizona, Nevada, Washington and Oregon.

Flames have raced across the wine-growing region and the scenic coastal area of Mendocino farther north, leveling whole neighborho­ods and leaving brick chimneys and charred appliances to mark the sites where homes once stood.

In Boyes Hot Springs, residents had watched ridges over the west side of town for days to gauge how close the orange flames had come. On Wednesday, the ridges were obscured by growing clouds of smoke.

With fires advancing from several sides in Sonoma Valley, law enforcemen­t officers on loan from other areas barred residents of evacuated communitie­s from returning to see how their homes and businesses had fared. Roadblocks were set up between Sonoma and devastated areas of Santa Rosa.

No informatio­n

Alejandro Rodriguez had been evacuated from one tiny Sonoma Valley town, only to have deputies come to the neighborho­od where he had relocated and tell residents to pack up and go.

“I want to see my house, see if anything’s left,” Rodriguez said, gesturing at officers at one roadblock. “They won’t tell us nothing.”

Sonoma County Sheriff Robert Giordano said hundreds of people had been reported missing. But officials believe many will eventually be found. Chaotic evacuation­s and poor communicat­ions over the past few days have made locating friends and family difficult.

The sheriff expects the death toll to climb.

“The devastatio­n is enormous,” he said. “We can’t even get into most areas.”

Helicopter­s and air tankers were assisting thousands of firefighte­rs trying to beat back the flames. Until now, the efforts have focused on “life safety” rather than extinguish­ing the blazes, partly because the flames were shifting with winds and targeting communitie­s without warning.

Fires were “burning faster than firefighte­rs can run, in some situations,” Emergency Operations Director Mark Ghilarducc­i said.

In Southern California, cooler weather and moist ocean air helped firefighte­rs gain ground against a wildfire that has scorched nearly 36 sq km.

 ?? AP ?? A San Diego, California, firefighte­r monitors a flare-up above the Sonoma Valley on Wednesday.—
AP A San Diego, California, firefighte­r monitors a flare-up above the Sonoma Valley on Wednesday.—
 ?? —THENEWYORK TIMES ?? Firefighte­rs watch helplessly as fire and smoke engulf a Sonoma County neighborho­od in California on Thursday.
—THENEWYORK TIMES Firefighte­rs watch helplessly as fire and smoke engulf a Sonoma County neighborho­od in California on Thursday.

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