Leroy N. Soetoro
2017-10-11 23:53:57 UTC
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/10/10/pure-
devastation-at-least-15-dead-as-firefighters-struggle-to-weaken-
california-fires/?utm_term=.87f4efd66f56
SANTA ROSA, Calif. The historically deadly wildfires menacing Northern
California regained momentum Wednesday as winds whipped back up, pushing
blazes through parched hills and vineyards and prompting more evacuations
from an arc of flames that has killed at least 17 people, destroyed more
than 2,000 buildings and battered the regions renowned wine-growing
industry.
Fires advanced overnight toward populated areas in flame-battered Sonoma
County, prompting officials to order a fresh round of mandatory
evacuations some of which were announced by deputies running toward the
fire, banging on doors, getting people out of their houses, said Misti
Harris, a Sonoma County Sheriffs Office spokeswoman.
Its rapidly changing, its moving quickly, its a very fluid situation.
The fire is growing, she said.
Several fires have been burning in the county; the worst, known as the
Tubbs Fire, has already killed 11 people since it erupted on Sunday,
making it Californias deadliest wildfire in 14 years.
Officials expect the death toll to rise: Sonoma County Sheriff Robert
Giordano said Wednesday that authorities have located more than 100 people
who were reported missing but that 560 still remain unaccounted for.
Its unclear if those who are missing have been harmed, or are simply
unable to reach friends and families, as fires have disabled much of the
communication system in the region.
This has been one of the deadliest weeks for fires that weve experienced
in recent time, said Daniel Berlant, assistant deputy director for Cal
Fire.
[An elderly couple just celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary. Then
the Napa wildfires came.]
The two biggest wine-country fires, Tubbs and one known as Atlas that
began in Napa County, grew overnight as conditions worsened and had
torched a combined 70,000 acres by Wednesday morning, according to Cal
Fire.
The fast-moving flames have swept through densely populated neighborhoods
over the past two days, causing residents to flee from homes in the middle
of the night as smoke filled their rooms. One couple had to jump into
their pool as flames rushed across their land, taking occasional gasps for
air as flames lapped at their backs.
High winds that whipped up 22 large wildfires had faded earlier Tuesday
and humidity increased, assisting an operation that has drawn resources
from throughout the state and neighboring Nevada. But the sharp northern
wind, known as a Diablo, returned, allowing only a brief window for
firefighters to carve clearings in place to stop the fires from spreading
to vulnerable populated areas.
The National Weather Service expects red-flag conditions including
wind gusts up to 40 mph to remain until Thursday in the North Bay Area,
which includes Sonoma and Napa counties.
As a thick haze coated the sky and settled into the regions canyons and
valleys, state officials remained focused on rescue and containment. On
Wednesday morning, as weary firefighters attempted to control the fires on
the front lines, dozens of fire crews from cities as far away as
Bakersfield, more than 300 miles to the south, were briefed at a makeshift
command center on the deteriorating conditions.
More than 25,000 people have fled homes from seven counties north of San
Francisco, filling dozens of shelters that state officials had hoped to
consolidate in the coming days to provide more-efficient services. Many
left houses with nothing, and officials acknowledged Tuesday that it could
be weeks before some are able to return to what is left. In Sonoma County,
5,000 people have taken refuge in 36 shelters as of Wednesday morning,
officials said.
The scope of the damage prompted President Trump on Tuesday to approve
federal emergency assistance to California, agreeing to a request made by
Gov. Jerry Brown (D). The declaration, announced by Vice President Pence
during a visit to the states Office of Emergency Services near
Sacramento, provides immediate funds for debris clearing and supplies for
evacuation centers, among other aid.
The fires are the most destructive in what already has been a severe
wildfire season for California and much of the West, where more than 8
million acres have been charred this year. In his letter to Trump, Brown
said that nearly 7,500 fires have flared in California this year. Ten of
them have prompted him to declare a state of emergency.
[Mapping the wildfires in Northern Californias wine country]
The cause of the fires, which flared overnight Sunday and blew swiftly
through 170,000 acres in the following days, was unknown and likely to
remain so for some time.
Cal Fire Chief Ken Pimlott said the possibility that a lightning strike
started the fires was minimal. In California, he said, 95 percent of
wildfires are started by people, inadvertently or intentionally.
This is just pure devastation and its going to take us a while to get
out and comb through all of this, he said, noting that all of the fires
remain under investigation.
State officials said that firefighters planned to clear lines between the
Atlas Fire and the city of Napa, and between the Tubbs Fire and the city
of Santa Rosa the largest in Sonoma County and gateway to the wine-
tourism industry.
Those barriers would protect the areas from the south with the expectation
that winds will shift back to the north in the days ahead.
Officials said the idea, in the case of the Tubbs Fire, was to prevent a
reburn of Santa Rosa.
For Dylan Sayge, the original burn was devastating. He and his roommates
were awake early Monday morning when they noticed an unusual sight outside
their $1,600-a-month rental home in the Coffey Park neighborhood of Santa
Rosa.
We realized ash was falling from the sky, said Sayge, 23, a musician who
works at Trader Joes.
Soon after, online, they learned that a fast-moving fire had jumped
Highway 101, propelled by howling winds. The power flickered and an
explosion followed as a transformer blew nearby. They grabbed their three
dogs Cash, Willie and Shorty and their cat, Apollo. Sayge packed up
baby pictures and musical instruments.
[Apocalyptic images show the devastation caused by California]
They headed out in three cars and into a traffic jam. Sayge left behind a
1998 Ford Taurus that he had just been given as a gift. The dense smoke
clouded visibility. He eventually made it to a friends home in Fairfax,
down the road in Marin County.
The next day, he learned that the house was gone, the Taurus a charred
husk.
The world can change in any moment, Sayge said. Anytime.
On Tuesday, the smoke, more than the weather, has presented the biggest
challenge to fire crews.
Warmer, high-altitude air pressed the smoke close to the ground, masking
targets for the flight crews in some of the hardest-hit areas. Fire
officials said that they used a record amount of flame retardant, pumped
into the planes flying over the fire zones, in the initial hours of the
fire.
The disruption to daily life in a region known as a calm, sometimes
intoxicating, tourist destination was immense.
The 100,000 acres of vineyards the focal point of Californias wine
industry and the tourism business built around remained threatened and,
in some cases, damaged. The extent remained unclear.
[We saw the glow of fire in the distance. Four hours later, it was at our
front door.]
Here in Healdsburg, a quaint town known to tourists for its wine tasting,
food and antiques, the cast was dystopian.
Smoke as thick as fog shielded the sky. On the hillside, houses burned
unattended with stretched-thin firefighters busy elsewhere. The wooden
guardrails along Highway 101 one of the states most prominent north-
south arteries smoldered after burning the night before.
More than a dozen schools were shuttered in the seven counties most
affected by fires, and damage to the power grid meant that everything from
charging cellphones to pumping fuel was curtailed.
Nearly 80 cell towers have been damaged or destroyed, complicating efforts
by even those with a charged battery to contact relatives or call for
emergency assistance. The National Guard plans to bring in communications
equipment to bolster the network, which state emergency officials called a
priority.
People are anxious for information glued to their phones, looking to
get anything, news of their homes, friends, et cetera, said Drew Halter,
a county recreation supervisor helping run a shelter at the Petaluma
Community Center, where 450 people had taken refuge. They really arrived
here with whatever they could carry with them.
While people remained the focus of emergency crews, some private citizens
organized on social media on behalf of animals imperiled by the fire line.
A Facebook post asked: Californians: If anyone has a horse trailer, Chalk
Hill Ranch near Healdsburg needs emergency help. They have 54 horses in
dire need of transportation off the ranch.
Patrick King, 48, owner of the Soil King Garden Center in nearby
Cloverdale, had taken in three evacuated horses by noon and expected a
dozen more at least.
Its devastating, he said. So instead of going into panic mode, were
going into help mode, taking care of our citizens.
In an evacuation center in nearby Windsor, Daniel and Cindy Pomplun
recounted an escape that left their faces blistered.
The couple, caught in the Tubbs fire, remained on the lower floor of their
rural Santa Rosa home as the flames got closer. There had been no warning,
just the sight of the flames.
As smoke filled the house, Daniel Pomplun, a 54, year-old software
development manager, recalled: We got lower and lower until we were down
to a foot.
[Wildfires sweep across the face of the California wine industry]
Fleeing the house, the Pompluns jumped into their pool as middle-of-the-
night temperatures dropped into the 40s. They draped washcloths over the
backs of their heads as they came up periodically to breathe, their backs
exposed to the fire that was engulfing their home and land.
When the fire passed, they lay shivering on the hot stones of their patio,
taking off items of clothes one at a time to let the heat from the stones
dry them. Then, they walked out, and entered a neighbors abandoned home
to borrow shoes and clothes. A Sonoma County deputy sheriff spotted them a
mile and a half into their subsequent walk and drove them to an evacuation
center located in a high school gymnasium.
Sitting at a metal folding table, the Pompluns discussed their next
escape. On the table were two items they managed to preserve as they
scrambled out of the house their passports. They have a trip planned
and paid for to Indonesia in a few days. They plan to be on the plane.
We just have to get bus fare and figure out where to get to a bus stop,
Daniel Pomplun said.
--
Donald J. Trump, 304 electoral votes to 227, defeated compulsive liar in
denial Hillary Rodham Clinton on December 19th, 2016. The clown car
parade of the democrat party has run out of gas.
Congratulations President Trump. Thank you for ending the disaster of the
Obama presidency.
Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp.
ObamaCare is a total 100% failure and no lie that can be put forth by its
supporters can dispute that.
Obama jobs, the result of ObamaCare. 12-15 working hours a week at minimum
wage, no benefits and the primary revenue stream for ObamaCare. It can't
be funded with money people don't have, yet liberals lie about how great
it is.
Obama increased total debt from $10 trillion to $20 trillion in the eight
years he was in office, and sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood queer
liberal democrat donors.
devastation-at-least-15-dead-as-firefighters-struggle-to-weaken-
california-fires/?utm_term=.87f4efd66f56
SANTA ROSA, Calif. The historically deadly wildfires menacing Northern
California regained momentum Wednesday as winds whipped back up, pushing
blazes through parched hills and vineyards and prompting more evacuations
from an arc of flames that has killed at least 17 people, destroyed more
than 2,000 buildings and battered the regions renowned wine-growing
industry.
Fires advanced overnight toward populated areas in flame-battered Sonoma
County, prompting officials to order a fresh round of mandatory
evacuations some of which were announced by deputies running toward the
fire, banging on doors, getting people out of their houses, said Misti
Harris, a Sonoma County Sheriffs Office spokeswoman.
Its rapidly changing, its moving quickly, its a very fluid situation.
The fire is growing, she said.
Several fires have been burning in the county; the worst, known as the
Tubbs Fire, has already killed 11 people since it erupted on Sunday,
making it Californias deadliest wildfire in 14 years.
Officials expect the death toll to rise: Sonoma County Sheriff Robert
Giordano said Wednesday that authorities have located more than 100 people
who were reported missing but that 560 still remain unaccounted for.
Its unclear if those who are missing have been harmed, or are simply
unable to reach friends and families, as fires have disabled much of the
communication system in the region.
This has been one of the deadliest weeks for fires that weve experienced
in recent time, said Daniel Berlant, assistant deputy director for Cal
Fire.
[An elderly couple just celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary. Then
the Napa wildfires came.]
The two biggest wine-country fires, Tubbs and one known as Atlas that
began in Napa County, grew overnight as conditions worsened and had
torched a combined 70,000 acres by Wednesday morning, according to Cal
Fire.
The fast-moving flames have swept through densely populated neighborhoods
over the past two days, causing residents to flee from homes in the middle
of the night as smoke filled their rooms. One couple had to jump into
their pool as flames rushed across their land, taking occasional gasps for
air as flames lapped at their backs.
High winds that whipped up 22 large wildfires had faded earlier Tuesday
and humidity increased, assisting an operation that has drawn resources
from throughout the state and neighboring Nevada. But the sharp northern
wind, known as a Diablo, returned, allowing only a brief window for
firefighters to carve clearings in place to stop the fires from spreading
to vulnerable populated areas.
The National Weather Service expects red-flag conditions including
wind gusts up to 40 mph to remain until Thursday in the North Bay Area,
which includes Sonoma and Napa counties.
As a thick haze coated the sky and settled into the regions canyons and
valleys, state officials remained focused on rescue and containment. On
Wednesday morning, as weary firefighters attempted to control the fires on
the front lines, dozens of fire crews from cities as far away as
Bakersfield, more than 300 miles to the south, were briefed at a makeshift
command center on the deteriorating conditions.
More than 25,000 people have fled homes from seven counties north of San
Francisco, filling dozens of shelters that state officials had hoped to
consolidate in the coming days to provide more-efficient services. Many
left houses with nothing, and officials acknowledged Tuesday that it could
be weeks before some are able to return to what is left. In Sonoma County,
5,000 people have taken refuge in 36 shelters as of Wednesday morning,
officials said.
The scope of the damage prompted President Trump on Tuesday to approve
federal emergency assistance to California, agreeing to a request made by
Gov. Jerry Brown (D). The declaration, announced by Vice President Pence
during a visit to the states Office of Emergency Services near
Sacramento, provides immediate funds for debris clearing and supplies for
evacuation centers, among other aid.
The fires are the most destructive in what already has been a severe
wildfire season for California and much of the West, where more than 8
million acres have been charred this year. In his letter to Trump, Brown
said that nearly 7,500 fires have flared in California this year. Ten of
them have prompted him to declare a state of emergency.
[Mapping the wildfires in Northern Californias wine country]
The cause of the fires, which flared overnight Sunday and blew swiftly
through 170,000 acres in the following days, was unknown and likely to
remain so for some time.
Cal Fire Chief Ken Pimlott said the possibility that a lightning strike
started the fires was minimal. In California, he said, 95 percent of
wildfires are started by people, inadvertently or intentionally.
This is just pure devastation and its going to take us a while to get
out and comb through all of this, he said, noting that all of the fires
remain under investigation.
State officials said that firefighters planned to clear lines between the
Atlas Fire and the city of Napa, and between the Tubbs Fire and the city
of Santa Rosa the largest in Sonoma County and gateway to the wine-
tourism industry.
Those barriers would protect the areas from the south with the expectation
that winds will shift back to the north in the days ahead.
Officials said the idea, in the case of the Tubbs Fire, was to prevent a
reburn of Santa Rosa.
For Dylan Sayge, the original burn was devastating. He and his roommates
were awake early Monday morning when they noticed an unusual sight outside
their $1,600-a-month rental home in the Coffey Park neighborhood of Santa
Rosa.
We realized ash was falling from the sky, said Sayge, 23, a musician who
works at Trader Joes.
Soon after, online, they learned that a fast-moving fire had jumped
Highway 101, propelled by howling winds. The power flickered and an
explosion followed as a transformer blew nearby. They grabbed their three
dogs Cash, Willie and Shorty and their cat, Apollo. Sayge packed up
baby pictures and musical instruments.
[Apocalyptic images show the devastation caused by California]
They headed out in three cars and into a traffic jam. Sayge left behind a
1998 Ford Taurus that he had just been given as a gift. The dense smoke
clouded visibility. He eventually made it to a friends home in Fairfax,
down the road in Marin County.
The next day, he learned that the house was gone, the Taurus a charred
husk.
The world can change in any moment, Sayge said. Anytime.
On Tuesday, the smoke, more than the weather, has presented the biggest
challenge to fire crews.
Warmer, high-altitude air pressed the smoke close to the ground, masking
targets for the flight crews in some of the hardest-hit areas. Fire
officials said that they used a record amount of flame retardant, pumped
into the planes flying over the fire zones, in the initial hours of the
fire.
The disruption to daily life in a region known as a calm, sometimes
intoxicating, tourist destination was immense.
The 100,000 acres of vineyards the focal point of Californias wine
industry and the tourism business built around remained threatened and,
in some cases, damaged. The extent remained unclear.
[We saw the glow of fire in the distance. Four hours later, it was at our
front door.]
Here in Healdsburg, a quaint town known to tourists for its wine tasting,
food and antiques, the cast was dystopian.
Smoke as thick as fog shielded the sky. On the hillside, houses burned
unattended with stretched-thin firefighters busy elsewhere. The wooden
guardrails along Highway 101 one of the states most prominent north-
south arteries smoldered after burning the night before.
More than a dozen schools were shuttered in the seven counties most
affected by fires, and damage to the power grid meant that everything from
charging cellphones to pumping fuel was curtailed.
Nearly 80 cell towers have been damaged or destroyed, complicating efforts
by even those with a charged battery to contact relatives or call for
emergency assistance. The National Guard plans to bring in communications
equipment to bolster the network, which state emergency officials called a
priority.
People are anxious for information glued to their phones, looking to
get anything, news of their homes, friends, et cetera, said Drew Halter,
a county recreation supervisor helping run a shelter at the Petaluma
Community Center, where 450 people had taken refuge. They really arrived
here with whatever they could carry with them.
While people remained the focus of emergency crews, some private citizens
organized on social media on behalf of animals imperiled by the fire line.
A Facebook post asked: Californians: If anyone has a horse trailer, Chalk
Hill Ranch near Healdsburg needs emergency help. They have 54 horses in
dire need of transportation off the ranch.
Patrick King, 48, owner of the Soil King Garden Center in nearby
Cloverdale, had taken in three evacuated horses by noon and expected a
dozen more at least.
Its devastating, he said. So instead of going into panic mode, were
going into help mode, taking care of our citizens.
In an evacuation center in nearby Windsor, Daniel and Cindy Pomplun
recounted an escape that left their faces blistered.
The couple, caught in the Tubbs fire, remained on the lower floor of their
rural Santa Rosa home as the flames got closer. There had been no warning,
just the sight of the flames.
As smoke filled the house, Daniel Pomplun, a 54, year-old software
development manager, recalled: We got lower and lower until we were down
to a foot.
[Wildfires sweep across the face of the California wine industry]
Fleeing the house, the Pompluns jumped into their pool as middle-of-the-
night temperatures dropped into the 40s. They draped washcloths over the
backs of their heads as they came up periodically to breathe, their backs
exposed to the fire that was engulfing their home and land.
When the fire passed, they lay shivering on the hot stones of their patio,
taking off items of clothes one at a time to let the heat from the stones
dry them. Then, they walked out, and entered a neighbors abandoned home
to borrow shoes and clothes. A Sonoma County deputy sheriff spotted them a
mile and a half into their subsequent walk and drove them to an evacuation
center located in a high school gymnasium.
Sitting at a metal folding table, the Pompluns discussed their next
escape. On the table were two items they managed to preserve as they
scrambled out of the house their passports. They have a trip planned
and paid for to Indonesia in a few days. They plan to be on the plane.
We just have to get bus fare and figure out where to get to a bus stop,
Daniel Pomplun said.
--
Donald J. Trump, 304 electoral votes to 227, defeated compulsive liar in
denial Hillary Rodham Clinton on December 19th, 2016. The clown car
parade of the democrat party has run out of gas.
Congratulations President Trump. Thank you for ending the disaster of the
Obama presidency.
Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp.
ObamaCare is a total 100% failure and no lie that can be put forth by its
supporters can dispute that.
Obama jobs, the result of ObamaCare. 12-15 working hours a week at minimum
wage, no benefits and the primary revenue stream for ObamaCare. It can't
be funded with money people don't have, yet liberals lie about how great
it is.
Obama increased total debt from $10 trillion to $20 trillion in the eight
years he was in office, and sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood queer
liberal democrat donors.