Two California wildfires explode in wine country
SAN FRANCISCO – Thousands of fire-sapped California residents fled two new blazes Monday that exploded in size overnight, torching more than 25,000 acres.
The breakneck Zogg Fire had burned through 15,000 acres near Redding in Northern California, and the Glass Fire tore through 11,000 acres in the Napa and Sonoma wine country north of San Francisco, according to Cal Fire.
The fires, driven by gusty winds, burned several structures overnight, including homes in Santa Rosa, as well as the Chateau Boswell winery and the nearby Black Rock Inn in the Napa County town of St. Helena. The area contains more than five dozen wineries.
“That fire last night was moving at about 40 mph because of the wind, down the hill into the city of Santa Rosa, and we’re hoping for better conditions here today,” state Sen. Mike McGuire told KTVU-TV.
““We just don’t have words,” said McGuire, a Democrat who represents Healdsburg. “It’s an incredibly trying and emotional time right now.”
Evacuations were ordered for Napa and Sonoma counties, where two smaller offshoots of the Glass Fire, the Shady and Boysen fires, merged to expand the blaze. More than 8,500 homes and other buildings were threatened.
Paul Lowenthal, a Cal Fire spokesman, said more than 13,000 homes were threatened in Santa Rosa, and he estimated tens of thousands of people are under evacuation warnings or orders.
The wine country has been scarred by fires recently, including the 2017 Tubbs Fire that killed 22 people and destroyed more than 5,600 structures.
In Sonoma, about 4,500 residents of the Oakmont Village senior living community fled the fast-moving fires as ash spewed in the sky, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
“It was scary, and I didn’t expect it to be so close,” Doris Tietze, 91, an Oakmont resident, told the Chronicle.
Since the beginning of the year, there have been more than 8,100 wildfires that have burned more than 3.7 million acres, according to Cal Fire. Since Aug, 15 – when California’s fire activity elevated – 26 people have died, and more than 7,000 structures have been destroyed.
Crews are battling 25 major wildfires amid gusty winds and low humidity, Cal Fire said.
“With low humidity, any fuel is just more prone to burn,” National Weather Service meteorologist Emily Heller said.
Forty miles to the south, the August Complex Fire continues to burn. The largest wildfire in state history, about 130 miles north of San Francisco, has charred more than 878,000 acres and was a major contributor to the dangerous air quality state residents were exposed to about three weeks ago and the apocalyptic skies over the Bay Area.
Neither the August Complex nor the Creek Fire, which has incinerated more than 304,000 acres of a forest 60 miles northeast of Fresno, is 50% contained. They continue to spew smoke and foul up the air in their surroundings.
Power was shut off for 65,000 Northern California electric customers in 16 counties to prevent the spread of wildfires, PG&E officials said Sunday.