California Apocalypse

[Cudedog]

As Velda and other have said, it is very bad here in Northern California.

According to the CalFire website (government agency) there are 27 "official" fires burning around the state (there are lesser fires burning as well) - in both northern and southern California.
https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/

The largest of these fires, the SCU Lighting complex ("complex" means multiple fires have been started in an area by multiple dry lightning strikes) in the Bay Area, is currently at more than 137,000 acres. It is really hard to wrap my head around a fire this large. And in second place is the LNU Lightning Complex near Napa, Fairfield, and Vacaville (also the Bay Area). 131,000 acres for this one, and counting.

268,000 acres burned in just the last couple of days by these two fires! And they are still burning. . . Many, many others still burning as well.

The smoke here at my house is almost as bad as it was during the Camp Fire, which burned the town of Paradise a while back. There is light-to-heavy ash fall coating everything outside - my car, my lawn, my plants - everything. After I finish this post, I am going to go dig up my HEPA air filter/air purifier, and hope that I remembered to buy new filters for it the last time I used it, during the Camp Fire. The filters during that fire needed to be changed about once per day, but it really cut down on the smoke smell inside my house.

The sky is a light brown in color from all of the smoke. The overpowering smoke smell makes it impossible to go outside. Joe wants a "Kong session", but not today.

Looking out my window, very smoky, with visibility probably less than 1/4 mile. The light looks to be a kind of yellowish brown, almost like evening twilight. Looking on the CalFire website, it doesn't look like there are any fires that are particularly close to me, so I guess it is just the cumulative effect of all the fires all around.

California's governor has declared a "State of Emergency" due to the high heat and widespread fires. There have been more than 10,000 (!) lightning strikes around the state. I don't know if you ladies in other parts of the country experience this, but this time of year we mostly have "dry lightning" (when we have lightning at all - extremely rare here in the summer), this is a lightning strike without rain. A dry lightning strike in the bone-dry chaparral is like a fire bomb torching off.

This is what we are dealing with here.

The temps are a bit less than had been predicted - due to "cloud cover" (smoke clouds!) blocking the sun.

All this is extremely worrisome. Generally, California's worst fires come at the end of the dry season here, which is the end of October/early November. To have this much fire activity this early in the year is unprecedented.

I am safe where I am - at least for now. Portions of fairly large-ish cities here (like Vacaville) are under evacuation. Hard to believe!!

Some of the fires that are in more remote areas of the state (remote area firefighting gets a little bit less attention, when more populated areas are under severe threat, like they are now. Firefighting resources are allocated to save people's homes, first, when there just are not enough resources to go around. There are just so many firefighters and equipment available - and we are running short here.) It is possible that some of these fires burning in remote, difficult-to-access, areas might burn until the annual rains come again. A very long time to wait. . .

Glad to hear you are safe, Velda.

Anne

[JudyJB]

My son says they are "a long way" away from the fires, but the maps disagree with that. The nearest is the LNU lightning fire, which is about 10 miles away. He is on the eastern edge of the town of Napa, and to make things worse, it is the first day of online school. This is especially stressful for my daughter-in-law who is a principal of a very large middle school about half a mile from their house. My son said yesterday was not good because of the smoke and during a meeting one of his fellow high school teachers said his house had burned down overnight! (He lived in the hills instead of in town or on the edge of town, as my son does.)

During the last big fires, their house was only 3/4 miles away from the Atlas fire and they could see the flames at night from their house. They had to evacuate twice. Those fires were accompanied by high winds, but luckily there are almost no winds right now and only a high of 93 today, but ten miles does not seem very far away to me. My DILs mother has come for a few days because my DIL is so stressed out.

No campfires in any state or federal parks, as of two days ago, here is Washington State.

[Cudedog]

I agree with you 100%, Judy.

I have looked at the maps also, and this fire looks uncomfortably close to Napa - this same fire looks to be already at the outskirts of Vacaville.

Before I retired, I lived for many years up in the foothills (I live in the northern Sacramento/San Joaquin valley now).

One time - actually, more than one time - a wildfire would ignite near to my foothills home, and I would call in to work for a "vacation day" so as to be on the ready (my job in the valley was about 35 miles from where I lived in the foothills). I wanted to be on hand in case I needed to evacuate my animals.

The first time I did this, my boss kind of laughed at me, because "that fire is really far away from you - more than eight miles!" My reply: "Yes, this is true. But the only thing between me and this fire is eight miles of dry brush". Which was only too true.

He got the idea! He didn't say anything more.

Wildfire, pushed by wind, can move faster than most people not experienced with wildfire can believe. Thank goodness, the winds thus far have remained calm.

I hope they stay that way for the duration of these incidents.

Just looked outside again - the smoke is much thicker now, I would say visibility no more than 1/8 of a mile. And the inside of my house is starting to stink of smoke, even with all my doors and windows closed. My eyes are starting to burn.

Anne

[Bethers]

I hope they can get a handle on these fires. Very scary and I hope those of you out there stay safe. Judy, be very careful and cautious heading to your family.

[JudyJB]

I am not heading there for several months, thankfully. Also, I just checked the weather, and the wind is 12 MPH from the south. Here are two maps. The first one shows the fires from a distance. Note that the orange area is not fire--it is the evacuation area. (The lower part of the orange area is where the older Atlas Mountain fires burned a few years ago. Many of the houses have been rebuilt, so they could burn again.) North is up on both maps. Son is right that fire is 10 miles away. The area that is burning has mostly wide apart houses in woods. Except the fire crossed I-80 near Fairfield, and it burned a couple of subdivisions and is now burning on Travis AFB, which is at the north end of the town.



The second one shows my son's house (blue arrow) and DILs middle school (green arrow). DIL now rides my old electric bike to school and granddaughter walks home, or at least did when they went to buildings. Grandson had to get picked up from a high school about two miles away. My son teaches at Napa High School, which is on the west side of Napa.


Click For Full-Size Image.

I am glad wind is blowing from the south.

[SoCalGalcas]

I hope your family, Judy, in Napa, stay safe. And, Annie, your report is very interesting and helpful to know what, when where and why! Better than any news channel or newspaper. The smoke you describe sounds horrific. I wish you and Joe could get away for awhile to be able to breathe cleaner air.
Lyn

[Cudedog]

I hope your family, Judy, in Napa, stay safe. And, Annie, your report is very interesting and helpful to know what, when where and why! Better than any news channel or newspaper. The smoke you describe sounds horrific. I wish you and Joe could get away for awhile to be able to breathe cleaner air.
Lyn

Thanks, Lyn.

Me too. The air quality in my general area was listed as "hazardous" yesterday. There are so many fires burning all over, that I'm not sure where I could go to avoid the smoke.

This from Governor Newsome:

"Just a day ago, I announced that we are struggling to address the needs of suppressing some 376 fires in this state," Gov. Gavin Newsom said at a Friday news conference. "That number has grown to about 560 fires in the state of California.

"Seven-hundred and seventy-one thousand acres has already been burned in the state of California, the equivalent to the size of the state of Rhode Island," the governor added. "We simply haven't seen anything like this in many, many years."

More possible bad news in the weather forecast: 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms for Sunday, Sunday night, and Monday. There is also a possibility of more dry lightning with this disturbance.

And it's only August. . .

Anne

[MandysMom]

As Anne said, it's only August and our fire season lasts until substantial rains and snow come, which could be October or later. We have had very bad fires in December, such as the Paradise fire. Dry lightning and winds expected Sunday through Tuesday. Crews are arriving from all over to try to get ahead of this situation before it worsens. saddest, of course is loss of life, and also homes and businesses, but additional sad losses including some of the remaining old growth redwoods and an entire state park with its historic buildings (it was one of our first state parks), has been wiped off the map, leaving only scorched earth.
Velda

[JudyJB]

How is the smoke in your area, Anne? And you too, Velda?

[Cudedog]

How is the smoke in your area, Anne? And you too, Velda?

Bad. Just bad.

Although not as bad as yesterday - could see a bit of blue sky through the smoke haze. On the other hand, as Velda (I think) stated on another thread, it is the tiny particulate matter that one cannot see that does lung damage. There is a fine dusting of ash here covering everything (it is difficult to imagine ash fall for those who have not experienced it). A thin layer of ash on my vehicles, my sidewalks, my plants. Everything that is outside, really.

Perspective (keep in mind that "contained" does not mean "extinguished". Contained means how much of the perimeter of the fire has a fire line around it):

1. I am about 40 miles south of the fire at Lake Oroville - the BTU/TGU Lightning Complex (on the "smallish" side at "only" 2,623 acres, still actively burning, 40% contained)

2. About 65 miles south-east from the southern edge of the massive Mendocino/August complex (currently at 143,663 acres and still actively burning - only 6% contained)

3. About 45 miles northeast from the even more massive LNU Lightning Complex (an astonishing 314,207 acres and still actively burning - only 15% contained).

So we are talking about over 460,000 acres (a truly mind-boggling number, and this total does not include the fairly near to me, prevailing winds blowing in my direction. Prevailing winds here are generally from west to east, so I am really catching it here, as I am sure Velda is as well.

And this total does not include the SCU Lightning Complex fire near San Jose (south of San Francisco), currently at 291,968 acres, still actively burning, 10% contained.

Add the the SCU 291,968 acres to the 460,000 acres. . . we are talking 752,461 acres in northern California that are ACTIVELY burning. . . but that's not all. . . Add to this total a great many smaller fires - by one estimate there are more than 500 fires actively burning in the northern part of California.

Smoke? Try to imagine the amount of smoke generated by fire actively burning on 752,461 acres.

If you are still with me after all of this gloom-and-doom. . . another weather front is predicted to come in (as Velda mentioned) that is predicted to bring high winds and further dry lighting strikes. Wind on fire burning in dry brush is a blow torch.

And. . . we have not even started yet with the annual Santa Ana winds, which reliably blow - every year - through the state during September through. . . used to be late October, these days I'll just say "until whenever".

It's not looking good here, fire-wise, for definitely the short term, and likely the long-term as well.

Judy, hope you are not sorry you asked.

I have lived in California all of my life, in northern California for the last 45 years. It has NEVER been like this.

I have NEVER seen it this bad.

Anne

[BarbaraRose]

Luckily, things are a little quieter here in Southern CA. Just a few fires burning down here north of LA right now.

Yes, fire can move very quickly! 8 miles sounds like a long way but the Lake Fire went from a spark to over 6000 acres in barely an hour. That is 9 square miles! The saying "it spreads like wildfire" is very true!

The remnants of the hurricane that hit Baja CA, are what will be triggering the dry lightning storms this week up here.

My friend and I are just gonna wait and see what happens in the next few weeks. She is in no real hurry to get to Oregon so we can hold off heading up there until it is safer to do so. I am more worried about the smoke than anything else. If/when we do get there, I may just fly back instead of driving. My plans for sightseeing are doomed anyways.

I feel so very bad for the people who have lost their homes and their animals (cattle, horses, etc), and for the firefighters who are working 36 hour shifts to battle these horrible fires.

[JudyJB]

My son says Napa smoke was a little better today, but it all depends on which way the wind is blowing. Luckily for him and his family, and the city of Napa, is that the wind has not been strong like it was during the last fires, and it has been coming from the SW, which means it is blowing towards the LNU fire, which is the one closest to them. Of course, they are still getting smoke from other fires.

Interestingly, some of the areas in the LNU fire are in the same area or at least very close to the same area that burned in the Atlas Fire in 2017. But as my son pointed out, the burned area was spotty. (We drove around that area a few months after the fire.) An area of a few hundred feet would be burned, but another area right next to it would NOT be burned. The sad thing is that apparently some of the houses that were rebuilt since 2017 are in danger again.

Another thing to know is that obviously Napa Valley is a valley. On both sides, there are long mountain ridges--35 miles or so along the length of the valley. The valley mostly goes northwest from the town of Napa. And one reason why Napa Valley is such a good grape growing area is that the valley is really an extension of the San Francisco Bay, so it gets cool breezes and fog from the ocean. And, the ridges on the left (as you are headed up the valley) are heavily forested. The hills on the other side of the valley are much dryer and with less forest, although there is forest behind the ridge nearest the valley. (If you want a terrific drive someday, take the Oakville Grade from near Sonoma across these hills and into Napa Valley. Narrow winding road, but fantastic views and lots of houses tucked in to the mountains surrounded by big trees.)

The valley itself is pretty well irrigated because the grapes are so valuable, but a lot of people live in the ridges on either side of the valley. But a lot also live in the northeast side way up in the hills, which is dryer and less heavily treed. Not quite all thick forest but not quite chaparral, either.

Anyways, the northeast side is where the fires are most of the time. It is a lot dryer with narrow, curving roads, most of which are closed right now. I would not want to live there because it would be hard to get out. If you go due east from that area, you hit I-80 and the cities of Fairfield and Vacaville, which are in the Central Valley, so are very flat and very hot and dry. In 2017, it burned almost up to the freeway, but did not cross it. This time, it hopped the freeway and burned parts of those two cities, along with parts of Travis AFB.

Hope they are able to get these fires under control, but I think it is interesting to see how the topography affects the fire and where it burns.

[MandysMom]

As Anne indicates, it's bad from many perspectives. We first smelled smoke Tuesday night and by Wednesday morning, no blue sky visible, just a brownish haze, which you can see even at ground level looking across my yard and towards the neighbors. As of tonight, it's still same plus we could really smell smoke this evening when we poked our noses out to pay for Chris's pizza delivery. Air quality currently described as poor. I think that 500 fires figure described the entire state, but most are in northern half of the state. . We have apparently lost our first state park along with old grown redwoods and all its historic buildings dating back to 1900.
Judy, I wanted to clarify about Travis AFB. It has not had any fire on the base. Their mission critical jobs continue. And im sure planes are there. However, since I knew the base well, from my college days, I know that only the main gate has a wide (I think it's 3 lanes in each direction) , for ingress and egress daily by employees. The other roads/gates are on narrow 2 lane roads. My best guess, is, because the main gate with its wide road direct from the interstate(80), is on the side of Fairfield closest to the fire, they knew if fire came, they would not be easily able to quickly evacuate through the 2-3 very narrow roads, only 2 of which I believe are on the south side, away from the fire. So, my guess is they made the decision early as the fire roared towards that direction, to get people, ESP families plus non essential people off the base in the safest direction , via the 2 southern gates. it's simply a wise logistical decision on part of the Base Commander.
By Sunday morning those storms with lightning are expected, along with wind. Not good for us.
That's it for dry fire prone CA for now.
Velda

[SoCalGalcas]

Velda, what is the name of the state park that is gone? The news is horrendous....however, thanks for it. Lyn

[Cudedog]

Velda, what is the name of the state park that is gone? The news is horrendous....however, thanks for it. Lyn

That would be Big Basin Redwoods State Park:

https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/08/20/historic-buildings-destroyed-at-big-basin-redwoods-state-park/

Also, two or three weeks ago, Lava Beds National Monument (another really beautiful place in the National Park System) in northeast California was pretty much burned over as well (70% of the monument was burned by the Caldwell Fire):

https://www.actionnewsnow.com/content/news/70-of-Lava-Beds-National-Monument-burned-in-the-Caldwell-Fire-572094451.html

This article on Lava Beds (dated August 12) states that "The largest fire in California since 2018. It burned a total of 80,859 acres in Siskiyou & Modoc counties."

Unfortunately, with these new fires, this statement - that it is/was the 'largest fire in California since 2018' is no longer the case. This Caldwell Fire is dwarfed by many of the new fires that are currently burning.

It was also started by dry lightning.

Anne