Bobcat Fire’s wild roar
100,000+ acres burned in LA area
California’s Bobcat Fire is one of the largest blazes in the history of Los Angeles County — torching more than 105,000 acres and setting off a “firenado” captured on video.
As of late Monday, the fire had consumed 164 square miles since breaking out over the Labor Day weekend, according to an online tracker.
That makes it comparable to the 1970 Clampitt Fire, which scorched some 105,000 acres and killed four people in the San Fernando Valley, according to The Los Angeles Times.
The 2009 Station Fire, the largest ever recorded in Los Angeles County, laid waste to 160,000 acres (250 square miles), killed two firefighters and destroyed over 200 structures.
Only 15 percent of the Bobcat Fire is considered contained and it reportedly added almost 20,000 acres (31 square miles) to its path of destruction between Friday and Saturday alone, backed by strong winds.
A weather watcher on Saturday tweeted video of a “firenado” sweeping across the Big Pines Highway, “throwing rocks and ash all around,” aided by those fierce winds.
The situation held into Monday, with forecasters predicting dry, gusty weather — conditions in which wildfires thrive.
On Monday, the flames endangered the San Gabriel Mountains’ historic Mount Wilson Observatory, with firefighting crews rushing to defend the structure.
The Bobcat blaze is one of 27 that 19,000 smoke-eaters have battled statewide this fire season, leading cumulatively to at least 26 deaths and the destruction of 6,400 buildings, according to California Gov. Gavin Newsom during a Monday briefing.
“The 26 fatalities and 6,400 structures are based on what we have seen, what we have witnessed,” he said — noting that the actual tolls may be higher.
Massive fires have also ravaged Oregon to the north, sending thick plumes of smoke wafting as far away as Europe.