Irvine, California – Two firefighters were seriously injured and thousands of Californians were forced to flee their homes as two wildfires raged in Orange County on Tuesday.
In Irvine, about 90,800 residents were evacuated due to the Silverrado fire and forced evacuation orders. Blue Ridge Fire, said Shane Sherwood, head of a division at the Orange County Fire Authority. Strong winds and low humidity accelerated the blaze on Monday.
On Tuesday, authorities were planning to use ships to fight the Blue Ridge fire as the weather improved, strong winds would blow at 20 mph, and the fire was extinguished in the Chino Valley. Officials said. The fire had spread to 8,000 acres in the China Valley Fire District by Tuesday morning Said.
Los Angeles County officials said Tuesday that an evacuation warning had been issued in the area south of Diamond Bar, a town in the eastern part of the county, as there was a fire and two other counties, Orange and San There was a fire along the border. Bernardino.
The two injured firefighters, aged 26 and 31, were internally injured after second- and third-degree burns in most of their bodies in the Silverrado Fire, according to a statement from the Orange County Fire Authority.
Chief Brian Fancy said: “She is OK. “Their families are with them.”
Video from the scene of the Silverrado Fire, which covers about 7,200 acres, showed strong winds of 80 miles per hour on Monday. “The wind is terrible,” said Brian Alexander, 43, who evacuated his home in the morning with his wife and 5-year-old son.
Packing his car before taking it out, Alexander said a flag was so strong that he slammed it on the door of his car as he tried to load his luggage.
Mr Alexander said the wind blew ash and dust particles and “created the worst quality of air”.
About 4,000 firefighters According to the state fire agency Cal Fire, 22 wildfires were being fought across the state on Monday.
Video from local news station KTLA Cars were seen parked at an overpass on 133 Freeway as fires erupted below and smoke columns covered the road.
Retired nurse Charlene Stephenson, 67, said she was visiting a doctor Monday morning when she received an evacuation warning on her cell phone. When she arrived home, a police officer outside her condominium door was ordering her and other residents to evacuate the building.
“When I woke up this morning, I could smell the smoke,” she said. “It was scary. I’ve lived in Irvine for four years since my husband died, and I’ve never been like that. ”
Investigators are working to determine the cause of the new fire. On Monday, Southern California Edison filed a second wildfire report with state regulators this year, saying its equipment may have caught fire in Silverdo. Last month, the utility filed a report stating that its equipment was part of an investigation into the cause of the Bobcat fire, which burned more than 115,000 acres near Pasadena.
The Silverrado Fire is the latest in a season that has claimed the lives of thousands of people across the American West. More than five million acres have been burned in the states of California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington.
In Colorado, a week of blizzards triggered two major wildfires that killed an elderly couple, devastated thousands and destroyed dozens of homes in the northern mountains. But the fire was extinguished. Officials said that although the blades were weak, they were collapsing under the snow.
“Things are really kept,” he said Noel Livingston, The commander of the East Troublesome fire incident, which is burning in permanent and other homes in Grand County, west of Rocky Mountain National Park. “But the fire is not extinguished.”
Most of Colorado is in the grip of a severe or unprecedented drought, which means an early winter snow dump will not remove dangerously dry conditions and dead brushes that erupted like a mountain of matchsticks last week. Gives.
Weather forecasters said there was to be little rain in next week’s forecast, meaning the fire could only escalate once the snow melts.
Experts have linked the deteriorating fire season to climate change. Combustion of fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide and other heat-releasing gases into hot and dry conditions – making trees more likely to build and brush.
In California, the new vacancy came as hundreds of thousands of people lost power on Sunday, causing Calfire to fire.Extreme fire weather conditions“Such as strong winds and low humidity, which can increase the risk of wildfires.”
Pacific Gas and Electric, the state’s largest utility, began shutting down 361,000 customers in 36 counties, including Alameda and Contra Costa County. The company said in a statement. The utility demands that power be restored from Tuesday.
Pacific Gas and Electric, which emerged from bankruptcy in June after spending an estimated billion 30 billion on wildfires, have used shut-offs to prevent their equipment from catching fire during extreme weather conditions.
This month, Pacific Gas and Electric told state regulators that its equipment may have been involved in the September Jog fire, which killed four people, destroyed more than 200 homes and businesses, and destroyed 56,338 acres. Were burned. Last week, firefighters announced that utility equipment was the cause of the 2019 Kincaid fire, which destroyed 374 buildings and burned 77,758 acres.
In Irvine, outside the University Community Community City Park shelter, the sky was visible through the sound of smoke, and the winds were so strong that it was difficult for some drivers to control the wheel.
Jianning Fu, 20, who lives with her mother, said she could see the smoke when she woke up at 8 a.m. Monday. “By then, the sky was orange, but I wasn’t able to catch fire,” Mr Fu said. “I told my mom we needed to get out immediately.”
Anna Fascio-Craigsler Reported from Irvine, Wright Wright From Jersey City, NJ, and Johnny Diaz Christine Hozer from Miami contributed to the reporting from New York, Evan Payne From Burbank, California, And Livia Albeck-Ripka from Darwin, Australia.
