California firefighters were battling raging blazes from Redding down to Indio on Tuesday as dry, sunny weather and wind combined with plentiful dried vegetation to create ideal conditions for wildfires to start and spread.
For the first time in two years, Cal Fire activated its highest-level incident-management teams for three of the fires: the 10,000-acre Sites Fire northeast of Clearlake, the 5,400-acre Aero Fire in the foothills east of Stockton, and the 15,700-acre Post Fire in southern California.
“To have three activated this year already in quick succession of one another is significant,” said Cal Fire spokesman Isaac Sanchez. “It’s indicative of what we’re facing right now. The conditions are ripe for large fires to impact communities.”
Two wet winters in a row and the end of drought conditions have allowed grass to grow thick and high in many areas of the state. “It’s like gasoline, it burns very quickly, it burns very intensely,” Sanchez said.
California’s fire season exploded at the start of this month with the 14,000-acre Corral Fire near Tracy. By this time last year, the state had seen only one wildfire bigger than 1,000 acres — this year, there have been 14. As of Tuesday afternoon, Cal Fire crews across the state were fighting 11 wildfires of 300 acres or more.
Dangerous fire conditions began sweeping over the state Friday when a dry, low-pressure weather system started to settle in, bringing winds and low humidity levels that made fire ignitions more likely and helped existing fires spread, said Brent Wachter, a fire meteorologist for the U.S. Forest Service. Windy conditions from the trough peaked Sunday and Monday, while “unseasonably low” humidity took hold Monday and Tuesday, Wachter said.
Sunshine, too, contributed to the volatility of wildfires over the weekend and into the start of the week, Wachter said. The intense rays create air movement that can push drier air down toward burning terrain, Wachter said.
“That really helps fires propagate,” he said.
Wafting smoke from northern California wildfires led the Bay Area Air Quality Management District on Tuesday morning to issue an air-quality warning for the region through at least Wednesday.
“Expect smoky, hazy skies and the smell of smoke outdoors,” the agency said, adding that the air outside could be unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Two Northern California blazes that ignited Monday spread extremely quickly — as the Corral Fire had — torching nearly 5,000 acres in a matter of hours. The Aero Fire in the foothills east of Stockton pushed emergency officials to order evacuations in nearby Copperopolis, and by Tuesday afternoon had blackened 5,425 acres and was 20% contained. The area had not seen a large fire since 2003, and flames were consuming grass and oak woodlands, Cal Fire said.
“It was very ferocious. It looked scary,” said Larry Aderman, owner of Frog’s Tooth Winery outside Copperopolis, who was evacuated Monday evening. “The flames were easily 100 yards going up in the air.”
The Sites Fire that started Monday in Colusa County consumed 10,000 acres and by Tuesday afternoon was 15% contained by 12:30 p.m. …read more
Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
