![]() ![]() The western United States has seen an expansion of drought conditions over the first half of 2020. While wildfires can start at the whim of a lightning bolt, conditions conducive to rapid wildfire growth play out over a long timescale. Redwoods are naturally fire-resistant, but even they have limits. The largest of those, the CZU Lightning fire, has burned over 84,000 acres of coastal forests, including California’s famed redwoods. As of August 24, three other fires have at least burned through an area the size of Washington, DC. Images courtesy Sentinel Online/European Space Agency.Īnd these were just the biggest two! There are hundreds of wildfires of various degrees of severity occurring across the state. Burned areas appear in reddish brown and vegetation appears green. Sentinel satellite image of the LNU Lightning Complex Fire north of San Francisco in northern California on August 25, 2020, in infrared-enhanced false color. But in 2020, firefighters must fight both simultaneously as the fires burn-only 50-60% contained as of August 30-within 100 miles of the Bay Area. In any given year, one of these fires would present a monumental challenge. The LNU Lightning Complex fire has torn through California wine country, killing five people and destroying 1,198 structures. The two largest current fires, which constitute the second and third-largest wildfires on record for California, are the LNU Lightning complex fire to the north of San Francisco and the SCU Lightning Complex fire to the south. Over the second half of August, 1.42 million acres of land has burned, larger than the state of Delaware. An area the size of Rhode Island burned in less than a fortnight. How rare is it for such a massive acreage to burn so quickly? Cal Fire, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection for California, says it’s unprecedented in a “single fire siege.” In just nine days, more than three times the average acreage was burned in California than in the “normal” wildfire season in the state. Red outlines indicate areas where satellite sensors detected the heat signature of active fires. 17 in her burned home on Lone Company Road.NASA MODIS Terra satellite image of wildfires and smoke across California on August 21, 2020. 29 after being taken to the medical center at the University of California, Davis. Rowe’s daughter was found near her mother. 28 on Zogg Mine Road, near where the fire started. 17 when flames burned over him while he was fighting the fire in the San Bernardino Mountains. The Big Bear hotshot squad boss died Sept. Martin “Wolfy” Peterson, 65, Happy Camp.10 in a vehicle on Lumpkin Road near Cedar Tree Lane. 8 at his Sandy Springs Lane home but was able to drive and find help. 21 after several weeks in a medically induced coma. The friend who requested a welfare check said Delagardie had decided not to evacuate. Jorge Hernandez-Juarez, 26, Berry Creek.Neighbors told investigators Holder planned to “ride out” the fire in the shed. 12 in a metal shed on his property on Bay Ranch Road. 8 that he would evacuate if he saw flames. She was in a car and he near an all-terrain vehicle. Paul Winer, 68, and Linda Longenbach, 71, Berry Creek.They had told relatives that they wouldn’t evacuate but would go to a nearby pond if the fire got close. John Butler, 79, and Sandra Butler, 75, Berry Creek.8 that they were preparing to evacuate but an hour later reported they had decided to wait, because of erroneous information that the fire was moving away from them. They had told relatives by phone on Sept. Rubel was in a pickup truck Catarancuic (his wife) and Zurz (her sister) were nearby. 9 near their vehicles, packed to leave, at their home on Graystone Lane. Philip Rubel, 68 Millicent Catarancuic, 77 Susan Zurz, 76, Berry Creek. ![]() 8, and he was supposed to follow them in another car. Two of his family members safely evacuated on Sept. ![]() 31 when the truck in which she was riding went down an embankment and hit a tree as she and two fellow firefighters tried to move to a safer position while battling the Tatham Fire in Tehama County. A firefighter and emergency medical technician with the volunteer department in her Texas town, she had traveled to California with her son to work as a contract firefighter.
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