City blanketed in smoke as wildfires rage
Crews were battling wildfires in the San Francisco Bay area and thousands of people were under orders to evacuate their homes as dozens of wildfires blazed across the state amid a blistering heat wave now in its second week.
Police and firefighters went door to door before dawn Wednesday in a frantic scramble to warn residents to evacuate homes as fire encroached on Vacaville, the city of about 100,000 between San Francisco and Sacramento. At least 50 structures were destroyed and 50 damaged; four people suffered burn injuries.
“This is an incredibly emotional and stressful time for most of us who’ve endured a number of wildfires over the last few years,” said Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick.
Ash and smoke filled the air over San Francisco, which was surrounded by at least five wildfires burning in multiple counties to the north, east and south. The so-called LNU Lightning fire is made up of several fires burning in five counties, including in Vacaville.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said the blazes were exhibiting “extreme fire behavior” and challenging firefighters. There is rugged terrain in several of the areas and unexpectedly strong winds overnight fanned the flames.
John Gardiner, 60, stayed up all night after receiving an alert from a neighbor of oncoming fire around just before midnight. His house and neighbors’ homes were still safe, but he worried that could change as crews anticipated hot winds Wednesday afternoon.
“It was incredible, things swirling, winds just whipping through like a howling ripping sound and then you could hear explosions going off,” he said. “You can taste smoke in your mouth.”
Many evacuees were alerted around 2:30 a.m., the newspaper said. Television footage showed some homes in flames and thick ash dropping in a rural area near Interstate 80 as the fire appeared to head toward more densely populated areas.
Vehicle catches fire
Diane Bustos told KPIXTV that she and her husband tried to drive out but their vehicle caught on fire and they had to run away. “I got all these flames on me and I lost my shoe, but I made it. God saved me,” she said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered a statewide state of emergency Tuesday, saying the blazes were “exacerbated by the effects of the historic West Coast heat wave and sustained high winds.”
In San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties, about 22,000 people were ordered to evacuate homes because of a fire burning in dense wooded parkland that threatened communities, Cal Fire spokesman Jonathan Cox said.
“This is a very active timber fire burning in two counties with a serious threat to both public safety and for structures that are out in front of it,” he said.
Christopher Godley, Sonoma County’s emergency management director, said about 10,000 people were under evacuation orders as crews battled two blazes and were working to set up an evacuation center with alternate locations for people exhibiting coronavirus symptoms.
He conceded that resources are strapped statewide.
“It’s difficult to secondguess what the fire commanders are doing with their aircraft. But it’s not like last year when we saw just a huge wealth of resources flowing into the county,” he said.
State Sen. Bill Dodd, who represents the area, said the fires burning in Napa and Sonoma counties were mostly affecting less populated areas.
“I think the people around here, even the people that have structures in harm’s way, understand that they’re in a more rural area and that the people in more densely populated areas have to get the resources first,” he said.