Desperately fleeing the burning hills in Northern California

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — As the flames closed in on tiny Berry Creek in the Sierra Nevada foothills early Wednesday, Misty Spires and her boyfriend hooked a fire hose to a hydrant in a desperate attempt to defend their homes and the town’s only laundromat.

They gave up around 4 a.m. when propane tanks began exploding and they were dodging embers “as big as my feet,” she said. But traffic was snarled on the two-lane bridge leading out of town, forcing Spires and others to turn around and drive down a sandbar to escape the flames.

She helped another man load his motorcycle on the back of her pickup truck before sprinting to safety.

“It was like a war zone, like standing in the breath of hell,” she said.

For the second time in two years, fire has destroyed a mountain community in Butte County. Two years ago it was Paradise, where roughly 19,000 buildings were destroyed and 85 people died in the most destructive wildfire in state history.

This time, it was Berry Creek — an unincorporated town of about 1,200 people in the same remote, rolling heavily forested mountains that locals described as a peaceful, close-knit community.

Dozens of wildfires have been burning for weeks across California and the U.S. West, most sparked by lightning strikes. But the North Complex Fire in Northern California surprised fire officials by how quickly it spread after smoldering for weeks in a mostly unpopulated region.

Aided by strong winds, steep terrain and miles of dried out foliage, the fire — more than 8 miles (13 kilometers) wide — quickly roared into Butte County on Tuesday.

This time, Paradise was spared. Smaller mountain communities such as Berry Creek and Feather Falls were quickly overwhelmed. Firefighters scrambled to rescue more than 100 people on Tuesday and early Wednesday.

But they couldn’t save everyone.

By Saturday, authorities said the fire claimed 12 lives and another 13 remained missing.

Millicent Catarancuic’s 5-acre property in Berry Creek was a rescue shelter of sorts. She had at least four dogs and several cats, many of whom wandered into her yard and never left after finding a loving home.

Her scattered family had seen much tragedy, but in recent years they had mostly settled at her compound in the hills, where it took a 30-minute drive to get anywhere. With her sister, Suzan Violet Zurz, and Phil Rubel, an uncle by marriage, the three lived in quietly, caring for animals and playing the card game FreeCell on a desktop computer.

They were not foolhardy with fires, having voluntarily evacuated for others. Tuesday, they had packed the car and were getting ready to leave when, about 7 p.m., they changed their minds. They were safe, they assured their families.

Authorities would later find Catarancuic’s body near a car, along with those of two others. Zurz and Rubel are still listed as missing. But Zurz’s son, Zygy Roe-Zurz, fears the worst.

“It’s absolutely devastating to find out the people you love are suddenly and horribly gone,” he said. “We lived all over the world and finally settled in a place. So much work and so much thought went into being there and it’s, just, all gone.”

Spires and her boyfriend, Jonathan Gonzales, were headed to the muddy sandbar north of Lake Oroville, the largest body of water in the area. Gonzalez knew the area was clear of trees and close to the water and told the drivers caught in the jam getting out of Berry Creek to follow him.

“He told the others, ‘If you want to live instead of sitting on this bridge follow me,’” she said. “He saved a lot of lives.”

Once there, Spires said most people stayed huddled in their cars. But others got out and consoled each other.

“There wasn’t much that you can say in that situation but to say, ‘I’m glad you’re alive,’” Spires said.

While waiting for daylight, she saw horses and other animals run toward the lake as flames licked the hillsides.

Spires moved from Kansas City to Berry Creek two years ago, drawn to its verdant landscape, creeks and waterfalls that feed into the lake and the mild climate for her mother, who suffers from debilitating arthritis. Her loved ones all survived the blaze, but she mourned the loss of a town she had come to love.

She also mourned the loss of the Sugar Pine Saloon, a 1940s era bar where people in the community had signed their names in the rafters. Spires and her boyfriend were working hard to remodel and reopen it.

“It was a place where the whole community was involved in some way,” she said. “The whole history is just gone.”

___

Nguyen reported from San Francisco.

Associated Press

Big California wildfires burn on as death toll reaches 7

SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif. (AP) — Firefighters battling three massive wildfires in Northern California got a break from the weather early Monday as humidity rose and there was no return of the onslaught of lightning strikes that ignited the infernos a week earlier.

The region surrounding San Francisco Bay remained under extreme fire danger until late afternoon amid the possibility of of lightning and gusty winds, but fire commanders said the weather had aided their efforts so far.

“Mother Nature’s helped us quite a bit,” said Billy See, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection incident commander for a complex of fires burning south of San Francisco.

The three big fires around the Bay Area and many others burning across the state have put nearly 250,000 people under evacuation orders and warnings and authorities renewed warnings for anxious homeowners to stay away from the evacuation zones.

Six people who returned to a restricted area south of San Francisco to check on their properties were surprised by fire and had to be rescued, the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office said.

The death toll from the fires reached 7 over the weekend after authorities battling a big fire in the Santa Cruz Mountains south of San Francisco announced the discovery of the body of a 70-year-old man in a remote area called Last Chance.

He had been reported missing and police had to use a helicopter to reach the area of about 40 off-the-grid homes at the end of a windy, steep dirt road north of the city of Santa Cruz.

The area was under an evacuation order and Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Chris Clark said the discovery of the man’s body was a reminder of how important it was for residents to evacuate from fire danger zones.

“This is one of the darkest periods we’ve been in with this fire,” he said.

California over the last week has been hit by 650 wildfires across the state, many sparked by more than 12,000 lighting strikes recorded since Aug. 15. There are 14,000 firefighters, 2,400 engines and 95 aircraft battling the fires.

The Santa Cruz fire is one of three “complexes,” or groups of fires, burning on all sides of the San Francisco Bay Area. All were started by lightning.

Fire crew made slow progress battling the blazes over the weekend, which included a break in the unseasonably warm weather and little wind.

But the National Weather Service issued a “red flag” warning through Monday afternoon for the drought-stricken area, meaning extremely dangerous fire conditions exist, including high temperatures, low humidity, lightning and wind gusts up to 65 mph (105 kph) that officials said “may result in dangerous and unpredictable fire behavior.”

A fire in wine country north of San Francisco and another southeast of the city have within a week have grown to be two of the three largest fires in state history, with both burning more than 500 square miles (1,295 square kilometers).

The wine country fire has been the most deadly and destructive blaze, accounting for five deaths and 845 destroyed homes and other buildings. Three of the victims were in a home that was under an evacuation order.

Officials surveying maps at command centers are astonished by the sheer size of the fires, said Cal Fire spokesman Brice Bennett.

“You could overlay half of one of these fires and it covers the entire city of San Francisco,” Bennett said Sunday.

In Southern California, an 11-day-old blaze held steady at just under 50 square miles (106 square kilometers) near Lake Hughes in the northern Los Angeles County mountains. Rough terrain, hot weather and the potential for thunderstorms with lightning strikes challenged firefighters on Sunday.

Authorities said their firefighting effort in Santa Cruz was hindered by people who refused to evacuate and those who were using the chaos to loot. Santa Cruz County Sheriff Jim Hart said 100 officers were patrolling and anyone not authorized to be in an evacuation zone would be arrested.

“What we’re hearing from the community is that there’s a lot of looting going on,” Hart said.

He and county District Attorney Jeff Rosell expressed anger at what Rosell called the “absolutely soulless” criminals victimizing people already victimized by the fire. Among them was a fire commander who was robbed when he left his fire vehicle to help direct operations.

Someone entered the vehicle and stole personal items, including a wallet and “drained his bank account,” said Chief Mark Brunton, a battalion chief for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

“I can’t imagine a bigger lowlife,” Hart said.

Holly Hansen, who fled the wine country fire, was among evacuees from the community of Angwin allowed Sunday to return home for one hour to retrieve belongings. She and her three dogs waited five hours in her SUV for their turn. Among the items she took with her were photos of her pets.

“It’s horrible when you have to think about what to take,” she said. “I think it’s a very raw human base emotion to have fear of fire and losing everything. It’s frightening.”

Associated Press

Rescue workers recover bodies in fire-hit California town

PARADISE, United States — Rescue workers recovered multiple bodies on Saturday from the charred remains of residences in a California town ravaged by the most destructive fire to hit the US state.

Firefighters are battling raging blazes at both ends of California, but there is little hope of containing the flames anytime soon.

More than 250,000 people have been ordered to evacuate a wide area near the state capital Sacramento and, in southern California, the Hollywood resort town of Malibu.


In the town of Paradise, in Butte County, rescuers removed remains over a period of several hours and placed them in a black hearse. Pieces of bodies were transported by bucket, while intact remains were carried in body bags.

So far, all the dead have been reported in Paradise, where more than 6,700 buildings -- most of them residences -- have been consumed by the late-season inferno.


US President Donald Trump put the death toll at 11 on Saturday evening -- a count that seemed set to rise with bodies being recovered in Paradise.

"Our hearts are with those fighting the fires, the 52,000 who have evacuated, and the families of the 11 who have died," Trump tweeted.

From miles around, acrid smoke could be seen in the sky around Paradise, the sun barely visible. On the ground, cars were reduced to metal carcasses, while power lines were also gnawed by the flames.

Locals fled the danger, but police told AFP some farmers returned to check on their cattle.

"The magnitude of destruction we have seen is really unbelievable and heartbreaking, and our hearts go to everybody who has been affected by this," said Mark Ghilarducci, the director of the California Office of Emergency Services.

Governor-elect Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency to provide assistance to the hardest-hit areas in the fire-prone state.

The fast-moving blaze in the north, which authorities have named the "Camp Fire," broke out early Thursday.

Fanned by strong winds, it has so far scorched 100,000 acres (40,500 hectares) and is 20 percent contained, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said Saturday. So far, three of the more than 3,200 firefighters deployed have been injured.

They estimate they will need three weeks to fully contain the blaze.

Local power authorities have told state officials an outage occurred near the spot where the fire erupted, The Sacramento Bee reported, but there is still no official cause of the Camp blaze.

Trump, who was in France for World War I commemorations, drew criticism online for his somewhat unsympathetic reaction to the devastation earlier on Saturday.

"There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor," Trump tweeted.

"Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!"

Malibu mansions in flames
In southern California, more wildfires burned, including one just north of Los Angeles and another in Ventura County near Thousand Oaks, where a Marine Corps veteran shot dead 12 people in a country music bar on Wednesday.

Authorities said some 200,000 people are under mandatory evacuation orders, including the entire city of Malibu.

The "Woolsey Fire" had consumed around 69,000 acres, destroyed at least 150 homes and was so far not contained, the Ventura County Fire Department said, adding that evacuation orders were issued for some 88,000 homes in the county and neighboring Los Angeles County.

"We heard this was coming so we set up the sprinklers and we hosed the whole house down," said Malibu resident Patrick Henry. "We pretty much had enough time to get the dogs in the trunk."

Malibu is one of the most in-demand locations in California for stars seeking privacy and luxury.

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian West, who lives just north of coastal Malibu, revealed she was forced to flee her home.

"I heard the flames have hit our property at our home in Hidden Hills but now are more contained and have stopped at the moment," she said on Twitter. "I just pray the winds are in our favor."

Actor Martin Sheen, briefly reported missing by his actor son Charlie, was also forced to evacuate.

"We're fine, we're at Zuma Beach and we're probably going to sleep in the car tonight," Martin Sheen told Fox News 11, adding that it was the worst fire he had seen in 48 years of living in Malibu.

The wildfire reached Paramount Ranch, destroying the Western Town sets used for hundreds of productions including HBO'S sci-fi western "Westworld," officials and the network said.

Director Guillermo del Toro tweeted that Bleak House, his museum of horror movie memorabilia, was also in the path of the flames.

Utter devastation
In Paradise, the flames destroyed hundreds of homes, a hospital, a gas station, several restaurants and numerous vehicles, officials said.

Mandatory evacuation orders were issued for more than 52,000 people in the scenic area in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

"The whole lower side of Paradise is totally engulfed in flames right now," Kevin Winstead, a resident of nearby Magalia, told KIEM TV.

"Not one home will be left standing," he said. "I'm devastated."

The National Weather Service said Saturday strong winds and dry conditions were to continue through the weekend.

source: philstar.com

‘Firenadoes’ in California threaten 82,000

PHELAN, Calif. -- An inferno scorching swathes of southern California threatened the homes of more than 82,000 people Wednesday, sending flaming "firenadoes" tearing across the brush and prompting a state of emergency.

More than 1,300 firefighters were battling the giant blaze, with more on the way, but they were unable to contain the blaze as of early Wednesday.

Dramatic local TV news footage captured from the front line of the wildfire in the town of Phelan showed tornado-like flaming vortexes sent spinning into the air by the unusual ferocity of the blaze.

"We have very, very dry brush, thick fuel, it helps move it along very quickly," Lynne Tolmachoff, spokeswoman for the state firefighting agency Cal Fire, told AFP.

"It is very dangerous to the public and also to the firefighters."

Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency for San Bernardino County, just 60 miles (100 kilometers) east of Los Angeles, where the so-called Bluecut Fire was quickly growing, its cause still unclear.

The inferno began around 10:30 am (1730 GMT) Tuesday and has already burned through 30,000 acres (more than 12,000 hectares), according to the multi-agency Inciweb information site.

More than 34,500 homes were threatened and 82,640 people were under evacuation warnings.

"There is imminent threat to public safety, rail traffic and structures in the Cajon Pass, Lytle Creek, Wrightwood, Oak Hills and surrounding areas," Inciweb said.

From the highway between Wrightwood and Lytle Creek, a thick cloud of smoke could be seen blanketing the entire valley.

'Not worth your life'

A dozen fire trucks awaited orders to evacuate Paso Lane, located between several hills that were being devoured by flames, columns of smoke billowing into the sky.

"The whole community is being evacuated," said local firefighter Mike Anderson, who had been battling the blaze with his team for more than 24 straight hours.

"The fire is moving very fast straight through Highway 138, it is still growing."

Chon Bribiescas of the US Forest Services said later that the evacuation area was being expanded, with the wind picking up and the temperature soaring to 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 Celsius).

"The fire is consuming 100 acres in a few minutes instead of 100 per hour," she told AFP, adding that many residents had decided against the best advice to remain in their homes.

"In California, we cannot force people from their homes, but that means we have firefighters that have to come back to the mandatory evacuation zones instead of fighting the fire.

"I try to tell people that there is nothing in your home that is worth your life."

At a gas station in the outpost of Pinon Hills, 10 miles northwest of the fire, Jeannine Yglesia was buying ice with her 24-year-old son.

"I have 17 to 18 people staying at my house now, friends and their families that have had to evacuate from Wrightwood," she said.

Gail Nieto, a 65-year-old woman buying groceries, was forced to flee Wrightwood on Tuesday night.

"It's the fourth time in 30 years, but it's the fastest-growing fire I have ever seen," she said, trembling.

Perfect conditions

Among equipment already deployed were 152 fire engines, eight air tankers plus two Very Large Air Tankers, and eight helicopters, including night-flying helicopters.

The inferno has claimed one high-profile victim so far: the Summit Inn, an old-fashioned diner on the world-famous Route 66 that counted celebrities Elvis Presley and Clint Eastwood among its clientele.

There was little left other than the sign hanging above the smoldering ashes.

Two firefighters were slightly injured after they were surrounded by flames. They were treated at a hospital and released, and were back fighting the blaze, Inciweb said.

Several area roads were closed, along with the Mountain High ski resort in Wrightwood, which hosts hiking and other outdoor activities in warmer months.

It was rare to have so many people evacuated, Tolmachoff said.

California is in its fifth year of a record drought and parts of the state are sizzling in a heat wave with temperatures topping 104 degrees Fahrenheit.

Strong seasonal gusts known as the Santa Ana winds complete the perfect conditions for wildfires.

Thousands of firefighters are committed to several other major fires across California, including one 100 miles north of San Francisco that has charred 4,000 acres, destroying 175 buildings.

In central California's wine region, the Chimney fire has burned 7,300 acres near the city of San Luis Obispo, destroying 40 buildings, while 76,000 acres have been scorched in the scenic coastal area of Big Sur.

source: interaksyon.com

INFERNO GROWING | Canada fire 'out of control,' could double in size

FORT MCMURRAY, Canada - A ferocious wildfire wreaking havoc in Canada could double in size Saturday, an official warned, cautioning the situation in the parched Alberta oil sands region was unpredictable and dangerous.

"This remains a big, out of control, dangerous fire," Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said of the raging inferno the size of London that forced the evacuation of the city of Fort McMurray.

Some 1,570 square kilometers (600 square miles) had been devastated since the blaze began almost a week ago and the fire had grown by an additional 50 percent in less than 24 hours, Goodale told a televised news conference.

"There is one prediction -- that if it continues to grow at the present pace, it could double today," he warned.

But "there would not appear to be imminent danger to another community."

The situation remains highly worrying regardless, Goodale indicated.

"It looks like the weather in and around Fort McMurray will still be, sadly, very conducive to serious burning conditions," he said.

"The situation remains unpredictable and dangerous."

Alberta's government crisis cell warned that fire conditions remained extreme in the province due to low humidity, high temperatures and gusty winds.

Still, in a glimmer of positive news, authorities have recorded no fatalities directly linked to the blaze so far, the minister said.

Shuttling to safety

In the latest harrowing chapter, police convoys shuttling cars south to safety through Fort McMurray -- now a ghost town -- resumed at dawn Saturday morning.

Making their way through thick, black smoke, the cars were filled with people trapped to the north of the city, having sought refuge there earlier in the week.

Police, wearing face masks, formed convoys of 25 cars, with kilometers (miles) of vehicles, smoke swirling around them, patiently awaiting their turn.

With elevated risk that something could go wrong, the convoys along Highway 63 were reduced in size compared to the previous day.

Those being evacuated -- for a second time, after first abandoning their homes -- had fled to an area north of the city where oil companies have lodging camps for workers.

But officials concluded they were no longer safe there because of shifting winds that raised the risk of them becoming trapped, and needed to move south to other evacuee staging grounds and eventually to Edmonton, 400 kilometers (250 miles) to the south.

Some 2,400 vehicles have so far been able to make it to safety.

Oil company Syncrude, one of several in the region, announced Saturday that it had shut down its facility 50 kilometers north of Fort McMurray due to smoke.

"In order to ensure the safety of our personnel and the integrity of our operations, we are taking all units offline in a safe and orderly manner," it said.

But "there is no imminent threat from fire."

Escape route

Security camera footage from the inside of one family's home underscored the speed at which the blaze could overcome any stragglers. Thick grey smoke filled the living room within 30 seconds, while flames quickly ate away a wall.

Among the first evacuees to reach Wandering River, a hamlet about 200 kilometers south of Fort McMurray, Margarita Carnicero said she had feared for her life on the journey to safety.

"It was a terrible experience," she told AFP, sitting in her dust-covered SUV alongside her teenage daughter Michelle. "I was afraid, but I tried not to show it (so as) not to frighten my daughter."

"With all of the smoke, the trip was hard on the lungs," said Greg Stengel, an oil company employee who also joined the convoy.

The government has declared a state of emergency in Alberta, a province the size of France that is home to one of the world's most prodigious oil industries.

Alberta has been left bone-dry after a period of unusually scant rainfall and unseasonably high temperatures.

Slashed oil output

More than 1,100 firefighters are battling 45 separate blazes across the province -- six of them totally out of control, including three in and around Fort McMurray.

Oil companies crucial to the region such as Suncor, Syncrude and Shell have pulled out non-essential employees, and analysts said the three have slashed output by a total of a million barrels a day.

The cuts amount to around a quarter of the country's entire production, and one-third of Alberta's, and mean a loss of tens of millions of dollars per day in income.

source: interaksyon.com