California is on course to have wildfires burn 4 million acres
SAN FRANCISCO — California is poised to hit a fearsome milestone: 4 million acres burned this year by wildfires that have killed 31 people and incinerated hundreds of homes in what is already the worst fire season on record.
Flames have scorched an area larger than Connecticut and fire crews at a blaze in the wine country north of San Francisco were on high alert Friday as forecasters warned of extreme fire danger into Saturday.
However, powerful winds didn’t materialize early Friday, allowing fire crews a chance tomake some gains, but winds up to 30 mph were forecast to push through the hills of Napa and Sonoma counties as the Glass Fire, which exploded in size earlier in the week, threatens more than 28,000 homes and other buildings.
“So far we have not seen the velocity of the winds that we were expecting,” said Cal Fire Battalion Chief Mark Brunton. “But there will be gusts and… we do have hot embers and it won’t take much to take that and blow it into a very dry receptive fuel bed. That gives us cause for concern.”
Around the state, 17,000 firefighters were battling nearly two dozen major blazes. Virtually all the damage has occurred since mid-August, when five of the six largest fires in state history erupted. Lightning strikes caused some of the most devastating blazes.
Cal Fire Deputy Chief Jonathan Cox said wildfires have scorched 3.9 million acres in California since Aug. 15. That figure works out to more than 6,000 square miles.
“It’s likely that over the next day or two we will crest the 4-millionacre mark. The biggest year before this year was 1.54 million,” Cal Fire Chief Thom Porter said. “We are dwarfing that previous record and we have a lot of season left to go.”
The death toll increased to 31 people after a person burned in the LNU Lightning Complex died from their injuries, Cal Fire said in a statement.
Fire officials said the Glass Fire was their top priority. Since erupting Sunday, the fire has destroyed nearly 600 buildings, including 220 homes and nearly the same number of commercial structures.
About 80,000 people were under evacuation orders and officials warned that more were possible.