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In Pictures

Gallery|Environment

In Pictures: California wildfires prompt urgent evacuations

The California governor declared a state of emergency as fire crews scrambled to contain dozens of wildfires.

A home burns in the Spanish Flat area of Napa, California as flames rage through on August 18, 2020. - As of the late hours of August 18, the Hennessey fire has merged with at least 7 fires and is now
A home burns in the Spanish Flat area of Napa, California, as flames rage through. [Josh Edelson/AFP]
Published On 19 Aug 202019 Aug 2020
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Thousands of people were under orders to evacuate in regions surrounding the San Francisco Bay Area on Wednesday as nearly 40 wildfires blazed across the state amid a blistering heatwave now in its second week.

“Throughout the state of California right now, we are stretched thin for crews” because of the fires, said Will Powers, a state fire spokesman. “Air resources have been stretched thin throughout the whole state.”

California’s governor had declared a statewide emergency late on Tuesday citing an “Extreme Heat Event” that began on Friday, causing record-breaking temperatures and Red Flag warnings – weather events such as heat and lightning storms, that can spark fires.

Police and firefighters went door-to-door early on Wednesday in a frantic scramble to warn residents to evacuate as fire encroached on Vacaville, a city of about 100,000 that lies between San Francisco and Sacramento. Fire officials said at least 50 structures were destroyed and 50 damaged, and four people were injured.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said the blaze was exhibiting “extreme fire behaviour” and challenging firefighters.

To the south in San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties, about 22,000 people were ordered to evacuate because of a fire that was burning in densely wooded parkland but threatened communities, Cal Fire spokesman Jonathan Cox said.

Thousands of homes and businesses were also threatened in the wine-growing counties of Napa and Sonoma in an area devastated by a series of deadly blazes in the past three years. At least seven fires were grouped together as one of two major Lightning Fires in Northern California, a nod to their origins just a day earlier.

In the East San Francisco Bay, a cluster of 20 separate lightning-sparked fires threatened about 1,400 structures in rugged terrain with dense brush. Strong winds and low humidity made the firefight challenging.

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The cluster of wine country fires threaten an area that only last year grappled with another massive blaze that forced 200,000 to flee, a task made more complicated this year because of the pandemic.

A vehicle drives along Knoxville Road, with flames from the LNU Lightning Complex in the background Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020, in Napa County, Calif. The blaze went on to destroy multiple homes near Lake
A vehicle drives along Knoxville Road, with flames from the LNU Lightning Complex in the background. [Noah Berger/AP Photo]
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A resident runs into a home to save a dog while flames are getting close as the Hennessey fire continues to rage out of control near Lake Berryessa in Napa, California on August 18, 2020. - As of the
A resident runs into a home to save a dog while flames are getting close as the Hennessey fire continues to rage out of control near Lake Berryessa in Napa. [Josh Edelson/AFP]
Bill Nichols, 84, works to save his home as the LNU Lightning Complex fires tear through Vacaville, Calif., on Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020. Nichols has lived in the home for 77 years. Fire crews across t
Bill Nichols, 84, works to save his home as the LNU Lightning Complex fires tear through Vacaville, California. Nichols has lived in the home for 77 years. [Noah Berger/AP Photo]
An air tanker drops retardant as the LNU Lightning Complex fires tear through the Spanish Flat community in unincorporated Napa County, Calif., Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020. Fire crews across the region scr
Fire crews across the region scrambled to contain dozens of wildfires sparked by lightning strikes as a statewide heatwave continues. [Noah Berger/AP Photo]
Members of the Grizzly Firefighters fight the Carmel Fire near Carmel Valley, Calif., Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
Members of the Grizzly Firefighters fight the Carmel Fire near Carmel Valley. [Nic Coury/AP Photo]
A plume rises over a vineyard in unincorporated Napa County as the Hennessey Fire burns on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020. Fire crews across the region scrambled to contain dozens of blazes sparked by lightni
A plume rises over a vineyard in unincorporated Napa County as the Hennessey Fire burns. [Noah Berger/AP Photo]
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Horses stand in an enclosure as the LNU Lightning Complex fires tear through the Spanish Flat community in unincorporated Napa County, Calif., Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020. Fire crews across the region scra
Horses stand in an enclosure as the LNU Lightning Complex fires tear through the Spanish Flat community in unincorporated Napa County. [Noah Berger/AP Photo]
A resident hoses down a burning bicycle and tree as flames from the Hennessey approach a property in the Spanish Flat area of Napa, California on August 18, 2020. - As of the late hours of August 18,
A resident hoses down a burning bicycle and tree as flames from the Hennessey approach a property in the Spanish Flat area of Napa. [Josh Edelson/AFP]
A mobile home and car burn at Spanish Flat Mobile Villa as the LNU Lightning Complex fires tear through unincorporated Napa County, Calif., on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020. Fire crews across the region scra
A mobile home and car burn at Spanish Flat Mobile Villa. [Noah Berger/AP Photo]


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