A week into ‘nightmare,’ worst may finally be over
After heavy toll on life and property, officials say ‘we’ve turned a corner’
A week after a series of the most deadly, devastating fires in California history began roaring across a wide swath of rich wine country north of San Francisco, authorities say the worst may finally be over.
“Conditions have drastically changed from just 24 hours ago, and that is definitely a very good sign,” California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Daniel Berlant said Sunday. “And it’s probably a sign we’ve turned a corner on these fires.”
Berlant said most of the fires are more than half contained. The toll, however, has been heavy: At least 40 dead, more than 5,000 homes, businesses and other buildings destroyed. About 75,000 residents who fled the fires remained away from their homes Sunday.
But there was some good news Sunday.
About 25,000 people were allowed to return to their neighborhoods, the fire threat finally extinguished. Red flag warnings, issued when weather and other conditions are prime for the combustion and spread of wildfires, were dropped Sunday.
In Sonoma County, which along with Napa County has been burdened with the vast majority of the deaths and destruction, authorities on Sunday began assessing evacuated areas to determine the extent of infrastructure and other damages.
“In short, it’s a step closer to moving our displaced residents back home !!!” the sheriff ’s office said in a Facebook update.
In Napa, all city evacuation advisories were lifted. Napa County Fire Chief Barry Biermann said he doubts the blazes will reach Calistoga, a tourist town of more than 5,000 people known for its resorts, hot springs and mud baths that has been evacuated since last week.
Biermann, however, said low humidity remained an issue, and that gains made while the winds have been fairly light could slow if they kick up again.
“We’re not out of the woods, but we’re making tremendous progress,” he said.
Napa supervisors Chairwoman Belia Ramos said the county expects no additional evacuations. The focus of the county’s efforts, she said, was moving from rescue to recovery.
“A week ago this started as a nightmare, but the day we dreamed of has arrived,” Ramos said. “It’s a long road to recovery. I look forward to the day when this can be a distant memory, when we can recall that we were resilient and we got through this together.”