Ultra-fast wildfires kill 10 in Calif. wine mecca
WINE COUNTRY wildfires killed at least 10 people Monday in Northern California, where 1,500 homes, businesses and other buildings were destroyed across eight counties, authorities said.
More than 100 people were injured as a result of the infernos raging in several counties.
The Sonoma County sheriff’s office reported seven fire-related deaths, while two people died in fires in Napa County, and another person died in Mendocino County’s Redwood Valley.
“We are a resilient county, we will come back from this,” said Sonoma County Supervisor Shirlee Zane. “But right now we need to grieve.”
California Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency for the eight counties, where more than 14 fires are burning.
Officials said the devastation over the course of just a few hours Monday made the firestorm one of the worst in the state’s history. The wildfires were so intense that a northern section of Santa Rosa was put under an evacuation order.
The fast-moving flames jumped the 101 Freeway, forcing hospitals to evacuate, as they destroyed homes and businesses.
The city imposed a 6:45 p.m. curfew to prevent looting of empty homes in the evacuation zone, said acting Santa Rosa Police Chief Craig Schwartz.
“We have had a number of reports in the evacuation zone and the fire zone of people driving around and suspicious behavior,” Schwartz said.
Coffey Park, a large Santa Rosa subdivision of dozens of homes, was leveled.
“It’s fair to say it’s been destroyed,” Cal Fire director Ken Pimlott told The Los Angeles Times.
Strong winds whipped the flames through areas of dry brush in scenes more typical of Southern California.
Despite wet weather, officials said vegetation still hasn’t recovered from a long drought.
“We also had really gusty winds and really warm temperatures,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Mehle. “This time of year it does happen quite a bit. For the San Francisco Bay area, our summer is late September to early October — that’s when we have our warmest and driest conditions.”
Schools throughout the Napa and Sonoma valleys were closed for the day, and cell phone service was affected in Napa County, where residents and businesses experienced power outages and trees knocked down by the wind, officials said.
Smoke from the fires drifted into San Francisco County, and as far south as San Jose.
“The smell of smoke is everywhere throughout the county,” Napa County spokeswoman Kristi Jourdan said.
The fires left thousands of evacuees in scores of emergency shelters, and parts of the wine industry may be found to be ruined when the smoke clears.
The California Highway Patrol said it had used helicopters to rescue 42 people, including vineyard workers.
Hundreds of firefighters streamed into the region as people fled.
In cities safe from the fires, residents flocked to gas stations to fuel up and buy water and other supplies.