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Monday 28 october 2019
hasn't burned in 80 years. malfunctioned minutes
"The fuel in that area is ex- before that blaze erupted
tremely dense, they're ex- Wednesday night.
tremely old and dry," said The utility acknowledged a
Steve Volmer, a fire behav- tower malfunction prompt-
ior analyst with CalFire. ed a strategy change for
The parched vegetation determining when to kill
from the unseasonably hot high-voltage transmission
weather and low humidity lines, Andrew Vesey, CEO
was already igniting various of Pacific Gas & Electric
spots elsewhere. Co., said Friday.
In the San Francisco Bay The possible link between
Area, two grass fires shut the wine country fire and a
down a 6-mile (10-kilome- PG&E transmission line con-
ter) stretch of Interstate tained grim parallels to last
80, including a bridge be- year when most of the town
tween the cities of Crockett of Paradise burned, killing
and Vallejo. An ember from 85 people in the deadliest
one fire possibly sparked U.S. blaze in a century.
the other, but fire officials State officials concluded
said they won't know until a PG&E transmission line
an investigation is com- sparked that fire.
plete. PG&E said this weekend's
A fence burns in front of a vineyard as the Kincade Fire burns in Healdsburg, Calif., on Sunday,
Oct 27, 2019. About 200 people were shut-off was affecting
Associated Press evacuated from California about 940,000 homes and
State University Maritime businesses. The city of San
Continued from Front separate building with their The Healdsburg area lost Academy in Vallejo, which Francisco was not in line for
The flames came danger- pets. one of its historic attrac- is 55 miles (88.5 kilometers) a blackout amid shut-offs
ously close to homes in Among them was Maribel tions to the flames Sun- south of Geyserville where for most of the rest of the
Vallejo. Another grass fire Cruz, 19, who packed up day when embers carried the massive Kincade Fire is San Francisco Bay Area,
closed a stretch of inter- her dog, four cats and fish by the winds sparked a burning. the wine country and the
state that cut through the as soon as she was told to blaze that engulfed the Smoke from another grass Sierra foothills.
state capital as smoke ob- flee from her trailer in the Soda Rock Winery whose fire Sunday forced the clo- Many residents facing
structed drivers along the town of Windsor, which is buildings included a gen- sure of a stretch of Inter- blackouts had barely re-
busy stretch. about 60 miles (97 kilome- eral store and post office state 80 running through covered from a previous
In the south, a wildfire in the ters) north of San Francisco. founded in 1869. The winery Sacramento's downtown. shut-off that cost some busi-
Santa Clarita area near Los She also grabbed a neigh- was about 10 miles (16 kilo- To the south, a wildfire nesses tens of thousands of
Angeles destroyed 18 struc- bor's cat. meters) outside the town of dubbed the Tick Fire de- dollars in losses.
tures. "I'm just nervous since I grew Healdsburg. stroyed 18 structures Thurs- Napa County officials also
The biggest evacuation up in Windsor," she said. "I'm The Kincade Fire began day in the Santa Clarita opened several evacua-
was in Northern California's hoping the wind cooper- Wednesday night and was area north of Los Angeles. tion centers, including one
Sonoma County where ates." only 10% contained Sun- Nearly all the 50,000 resi- at Napa Valley College,
180,000 people were told Sonoma County Sheriff day morning, the Califor- dents ordered to evacuate where overnight winds had
to pack up and leave. Mark Essick urged residents nia Department of Forestry were allowed back home gusted so strong they top-
Meanwhile, Pacific Gas & in the evacuation zone and Fire Protection. It has after Santa Ana winds be- pled four blue portable toi-
Electric shut off power to that stretched from the burned 47 square miles gan to ease. lets. Ellie Brown and Cody
2.3 million people across 36 wine country to Bodega (122 sq. kilometers) and has As of Sunday, the Tick Fire Rodriguez, both age 20 of
counties starting Saturday Bay on the coast to get out destroyed 79 structures. was 65% contained. Santa Rosa, were trying to
evening. Electricity is ex- immediately, citing the 24 Strong winds hit Sunday What sparked the current find space in their second
pected to be restored by lives lost when fire swept as gusts reached 93 mph fires is unknown, but PG&E evacuation center, after
Monday.The fear that the through the region in Octo- (149 kph) in the hills north said a 230,000-volt transmis- finding one in Petaluma
winds could blow embers ber 2017. of Healdsburg and topped sion line near Geyserville too crowded.q
and spread fire across a "Although I've heard peo- more than 80 mph (129
major highway prompted ple express concerns that kph) in many other areas,
authorities to expand evac- we are evacuating too according to the National
uation orders that covered many people, I think those Weather Service.
parts of Santa Rosa, a city concerns are not valid at Nine people, including a
of 175,000 that was dev- this point," Essick said at toddler, were injured af-
astated by a wildfire two a news conference Sun- ter heavy winds toppled a
years ago. day, noting that the winds 30-foot (9-meter) tree at a
"This is the largest evacua- pushed fire toward the farmers' market in the San
tion that any of us ... can towns of Healdsburg and Francisco Bay Area city of
remember," the Sonoma Windsor overnight. Martinez. Six were taken to
County Sheriff's Office Dani Foster, of Santa Rosa, a hospital but the injuries
tweeted Sunday morning. went to the fairgrounds af- were not life-threatening,
"Take care of each other." ter moving only about a police said.
Hundreds of people arrived mile every hour in a traffic The windy conditions,
at the Sonoma County Fair- jam on the freeway head- which were expected to
grounds in Santa Rosa by ed out of town. continue until Monday,
Sunday. Some came from "To think of (the fire) coming could potentially blow em-
senior care facilities. More over Healdsburg and Wind- bers and spark fires up to a
than 300 people slept inside sor and into Santa Rosa, mile away. Fire officials said
an auditorium filled with that's a little overwhelming they feared that if the Kin-
cots and wheeled beds. and scary," she said. "You cade Fire crosses U.S. 101,
Scores of others stayed in a don't want it to be that big." it could ignite an area that