Fast-moving fire forces 70K to evacuate in Southern Calif.
LOS ANGELES — A fastmoving wildfire forced evacuation orders for 70,000 people Monday in Southern California as powerful winds across the state prompted power to be cut to hundreds of thousands to prevent utility equipment from sparking new blazes.
The smoky fire exploded in size to over 6 square miles within a few hours of breaking out around dawn in Orange County, south of Los Angeles. Strong gusts pushed flames along ridges in Silverado Canyon and near houses in the city of Irvine, home to about 280,000 residents. There was no containment.
Two firefighters were critically injured while battling the blaze, according to the county’s Fire Authority. The firefighters each suffered second- and thirddegree burns over large portions of their bodies and were intubated at a hospital, officials said.
Kelsey Brewer and her three roommates decided to leave their townhouse before the evacuation order came in. The question was where to go during the pandemic. They decided on the home of her girlfriend’s mother, who has ample space and lives alone.
“We literally talked about it this morning,” Brewer said, adding that she feels lucky to have a safe place to go. “There’s nowhere you can go to feel safe.”
Water-dropping helicopters were grounded because the strong winds made it unsafe to fly. The cause of the fire wasn’t known.
About 355,000 power customers in 34 counties were in the dark in the northern part of the state as officials issued warnings for what could be the strongest winds in California this year.
North of San Francisco, a Mount St. Helena weather station recorded a hurricane-force gust of 89 mph late Sunday and sustained winds of 76 mph. Some Sierra Nevada peaks registered gusts over 100 mph.
The “shut-offs probably did prevent dangerous fires last night. It’s almost impossible to imagine that winds of this magnitude would not have sparked major conflagrations in years past,” Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with UCLA and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, said on Twitter.
Winds had calmed slightly by Monday, but still topped 60 mph and the strong winds and dry conditions were expected to prevail through Tuesday.
Scientists have said climate change has made California much drier, meaning trees and other plants are more flammable. October and November are traditionally the worst months for fires, but already this year 8,600 wildfires in the state have scorched a record 6,400 square miles and destroyed about 9,200 homes, businesses and other buildings. There have been 31 deaths.
The electricity shutdowns marked the fifth time this year that Pacific Gas & Electric, the nation’s largest utility, has cut power to customers to reduce the risk of downed or fouled power lines or other equipment that could ignite blazes amid dry weather conditions and gusty winds.
Southern California Edison cut off power to 20,000 customers Monday, mostly in San Bernardino County east of Los Angeles. The utility said it was considering preventative safety outages for another 115,000 customers in six counties.