Rapid propagation brush fire causes evacuations for thousands of people in California | California fires
Hundreds of firefighters and first stakeholders work to contain rapid growth brush fire in a mountainous area in southern California which forced thousands of evacuations.
The Canyon fire broke out in a rural and not populated area of the county of Ventura on Thursday afternoon and quickly exploded, spreading east in the county of Los Angeles. Friday afternoon, at 3 p.m., the fire was contained at 25% but covered nearly 5,400 acres (21.9 km2), according to the authorities.
But the fire conditions remain precarious, with temperatures up to 100F and low humidity. The humidity levels on the hills covered with brush are at a record level in the region, and the descending vegetation has fueled the spread of fire.
“The fire has now crossed in the County of Los Angeles and continues to spread towards the East towards the Val Verde community”, according to an update at 1 pm of the department of forestry and fire protection from California (Cal Fire).
The firefighters fought overnight to protect houses and other buildings and to enjoy lower temperatures. Friday morning, they saw a moderate shooting behavior according to Andrew Dowd, spokesperson for the fire service of the county of Ventura.
“They put everything in play to master this fire,” he said. A firefighter reported a minor injury, but no civil injury has been reported. No unifamilial or multifamilial residence was destroyed, but two minor structures were destroyed.
“Air attacks and soil teams have attacked the fire to limit its spread and protect residents and structures on the fire path,” Los Angeles county managers wrote on Friday in an incidence update published on Friday, adding that hard work and operational efficiency have stopped widespread “while the high heat and dry conditions fire “.
Friday, firefighters hope to correct part of the perimeter, even with hot daytime temperatures that could contribute to extreme fire behavior. The fire remains a “very dynamic situation,” said Dowd.
“The extreme heat and the low humidity in our county of North have created dangerous conditions where the flames can spread at an alarming speed,” said the County supervisor of the Kathryn Barger, which represents the district, in a press release. “If the first speakers tell you to leave, go – without hesitation.”
The new fire is a huge forest fire in the center of California has become the largest fire of the year of the state, threatening hundreds of houses and burning out of control in the national forest of Los Padres.
Gifford’s fire had spread to more than 99,200 acres (400 km2) Friday morning and was 15% confinement. It was born from at least four small fires that broke out last Friday along the state of the state 166, forcing the closures in the two directions east of Santa Maria, a city of around 110,000 inhabitants. He injured at least four people. The causes of fires are under investigation.
The risk of forest fire will be raised throughout the weekend in a large part of interior California while a heat wave gripping the region is intensifying.
But the activity of fires across California and certain parts of the American West should also increase in the weeks when high temperatures collided with strong winds which are more widespread during the fall months.
“In southern California, the threat is driven by persistent drought, high grasses of grasses and a weakening of coastal humidity,” according to a forecast of forest fires by the state fire service.
The vegetation is already dangerously dry in the state, especially in the south of California, where a thick brush and dried shrubs can quickly transform the ignitions into hell, and the heat to come will make more humidity of the landscapes.
Fires will be more difficult to control and should present extreme behavior, according to an opinion published by federal fire analysts this week, which said that the mountains and deserts of Southern California saw “record dry levels”.
The Associated Press contributed the reports
