From Redding to Indio, firefighters in California battled fierce fires Tuesday as dry, sunny weather and wind combined with abundant dried vegetation created ideal conditions for wildfires to start out and spread.
For the primary time in two years, Cal Fire activated its top-level response teams for 3 of the fires: the ten,000-acre Sites Fire northeast of Clearlake, the 5,400-acre Aero Fire within the foothills east of Stockton and the 15,700-acre Post Fire in Southern California.
“It's significant that we've had three fires in quick succession this year,” said Cal Fire spokesman Isaac Sanchez. “It's indicative of what we're facing right now. Conditions are favorable for large fires to impact communities.”
Two wet winters in a row and the tip of the drought have caused the grass to grow thick and tall in lots of parts of the state. “It's like gasoline, it burns very quickly, it burns very intensely,” Sanchez said.
California's fire season exploded earlier this month with the Corral Fire, which ravaged 14,000 acres near Tracy. This time last 12 months, the state had seen just one wildfire larger than 1,000 acres – this 12 months, there have been 14. As of Tuesday afternoon, Cal Fire crews across the state were battling 11 wildfires of 300 acres or more.
Dangerous fire conditions began moving across the state Friday as a dry low pressure system took hold, bringing winds and low humidity that made fires more prone to start and helped existing fires spread, said Brent Wachter, a fireplace meteorologist with the U.S. Forest Service. Windy conditions from the low peaked Sunday and Monday, while Monday and Tuesday saw “unseasonably low” humidity, Wachter said.
Sunshine also contributed to the intensification of the wildfires over the weekend and early within the week, Wachter said. The intense rays created air movements that would push drier air toward burning areas, Wachter said.
“This really contributes to the spread of fires,” he said.
Rising smoke from wildfires in Northern California prompted the Bay Area Air Quality Management District on Tuesday morning to issue an air quality warning for the region until no less than Wednesday.
“Expect smoky, hazy skies and the smell of smoke outdoors,” the agency said, adding that the air outside may very well be unhealthy for sensitive groups of individuals.
Two fires in Northern California that broke out Monday spread extremely quickly — as did the Corral Fire — burning nearly 2,000 acres in a matter of hours. The Aero Fire within the foothills east of Stockton prompted emergency responders to order evacuations in nearby Copperopolis. By Tuesday afternoon, 2,000 acres had burned and the fireplace was 20% contained. The area had not seen a big fire since 2003, and the flames engulfed grass and oak forests, Cal Fire said.
“It was very intense. It looked scary,” said Larry Aderman, owner of Frog's Tooth Winery outside Copperopolis, who was evacuated Monday evening. “The flames were about 300 feet in the air.”
The Sites Fire, which broke out in Colusa County on Monday, burned 10,000 acres and was 15% contained as of 12:30 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, up from 0% three hours earlier.
The 1,200-acre Point Fire, which broke out Sunday near Healdsburg in wine country, was 40% contained as of Tuesday afternoon. Cal Fire said two structures burned and one firefighter was injured fighting the fireplace and brought to the hospital. Evacuation orders affected nearly a dozen wineries within the Dry Creek Valley and Healdsburg areas.
“We really made great progress here overnight,” Cal Fire spokesman Will Powers said Tuesday.
Lauren Fremont, executive director of Winegrowers of Dry Creek Valley, said Tuesday that some wineries on the north side of Dry Creek Valley were affected and a few roads were still closed. However, many of the valley's wineries gave the impression to be operating as usual, with little smoke noticeable. Ferrari-Carano Winery, which was within the evacuation zone, reported Monday evening that “our team, our vineyards and our winery are currently safe.”
“This is a huge relief for the wineries and the land there,” Fremont said.
In Butte County, the Junes Fire, which broke out Saturday, had burned 10 acres and destroyed one constructing by Tuesday afternoon, but was 98 percent contained and never spreading. Full containment is predicted by the tip of Tuesday, based on Cal Fire.
Cal Fire's Santa Clara unit, which covers Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa and western Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties, has sent “response teams” of 5 fire engines each to the fires in Aero and Sites, said Cal Fire spokeswoman Chelsea Burkett.
California's largest fire of the season up to now, the Post Fire in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, had burned 15,611 acres of land as of Tuesday morning. The fire that broke out Saturday afternoon in Gorman was 24% contained as of Tuesday afternoon. An evacuation order remained in effect for the realm, extending south beyond Pyramid Lake, and Cal Fire said the fireplace continues to burn in that direction.
However, California's fire weather is predicted to ease on Wednesday, helping firefighters, Wachter said. Winds died down Tuesday afternoon, giving method to localized breezes through no less than Friday, and humidity is predicted to progressively increase Wednesday through no less than Saturday.
The decline in wind will probably be a key consider firefighting, Wachter said.
“The wind is king,” he said. “It always has been.”
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