Northern California fires raging

[Gary7]

When you hear about California brush fires, they're often in central and southern California. But this month has brought some massive fires spread across Northern California, on the northern edge of California's most prolific and heralded wine growing region [see MAP].

A well known town like Santa Rosa has been devastated [BEFORE photo, AFTER photo]. It's like something straight out of an apocalyptic movie [PHOTO].

I hope all TBBS members who are living in Northern California are safe and manage to avert the danger!

 

[auntiehill]

One my nieces had to be evacuated from Somona State College when the fires got too close. Poor thing was in tears. But she is now back in the dorm, safe and sound. However, the smoke is so bad in town that the kids have to put towels under their doors to keep it out of their rooms.

 

[J.T.B.]

God, that's devastating. I have been up close to wildfires, and it's really scary, but that was out in the country. Going through a city like that it's almost unimaginable. One co-worker's daughter and family are evacuated but their neighborhood looks OK. For now.

Not as important as human lives of course, but I hope the Charles Schulz Museum stays safe, irreplaceable history there.

 

[Gryffindorian]

One tragedy after another ... I live in the East Bay and woke up Monday morning to the news of the wildfires. Sonoma County is over an hour drive from where I am. I have a couple of friends who checked in on Facebook; one of them said she was okay. I haven't heard from the other. My thoughts and prayers are with those affected.

 

[Random_Spock]

Just heard about this recently. Thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected.

 

[1001001]

When you hear about California brush fires, they're often in central and southern California. But this month has brought some massive fires spread across Northern California, on the northern edge of California's most prolific and heralded wine growing region [see MAP].

A well known town like Santa Rosa has been devastated [BEFORE photo, AFTER photo]. It's like something straight out of an apocalyptic movie [PHOTO].

I hope all TBBS members who are living in Northern California are safe and manage to avert the danger!

Those photos are unbelievable.

Some friends of ours evacuated (with their 1 year old) to Menlo Park. They haven't gone back yet to see if their place is still there.

I used to spend a lot of time in Santa Rosa. Lovely place.

 

[Gary7]

@auntiehill, glad to know your niece is safe and sound. Hopefully the college will escape the devastation. It's probably not all that dissimilar to what happened around Mt. Saint Helens, only without the thick layer of ash. It took a long time to get rid of all that ash. I expect Nor Cal will be smelling smoke for at least a year, maybe longer.
@1001001, hope your friends were one of the few whose homes weren't destroyed! Yes, I'd been to Santa Rosa a couple of times -- would have liked to been there more often; a great jumping point to visit so many wineries in the area. I saw a few photos of wine bottles on charred racks, totally destroyed. Something you seldom see in the aftermath of large fires, as most people who have substantial wine collections store them in the basement (well protected). But I heard the heat from those fires was so intense, it melted the alloy wheels of cars... turning it into what looked like mercury, running in channels down the pavement. Surreal.

115,000 acres scorched and the fires are still going. The two biggest fires consumed more than 52,000 acres of Napa and Sonoma Counties in the wine country of Northern California. A fire chief described those blazes as “zero percent contained.”

 

[1001001]

We can smell smoke here. The sunrise was pink this morning.

 

[Gryffindorian]

The air quality has gotten much worse. I work in Oakland, CA, and the smell of smoke outside is rather strong, even inside the building. Our field employees are advised to wear masks. There's a smoke advisory in effect, and it's Spare the Air Day over the next several days.

ETA:

From our Health & Safety Office:

The Health Advisory and Spare the Air Alert issued yesterday by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District has been extended due to the wildfire smoke throughout the Bay Area. Unhealthy air quality from the wildfires in the North Bay is causing air pollution throughout the Bay Area. Due to active wildfires and changing wind patterns, air quality could be impacted for many days to come. Outside of the active fire areas, air quality will be variable and unpredictable.

Given the continued air quality concerns non-critical outdoor work should be deferred. If indoor work is not available and the job requires people to work outdoors, N95 or P100 respirators (dust masks) should be made available for voluntary use. Employees do not need to be enrolled in the Respiratory Protection Program for this voluntary use of dust masks.

Please check your warehouses for the available masks. The Bay Area demand for these devices is extremely high and the District is in the process of obtaining additional masks.

Please see the link below for N95 and P100 information.

http://www.bepreparedcalifornia.ca....ts/English/ENG_ProtectLungsSmoke7208color.pdf

Check here for real-time air quality readings and forecasts https://airnow.gov

At this time most of the District service area is in the Unhealthy range which is defined as:

“Everyone may begin to experience health effects. Members of sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects.”

Air quality may improve or get worse, very quickly. Please check the air quality site for real time information.

 

[Gary7]

And it's getting worse... 29 dead now as the fire outpaces the firefighters.
"Fanned by warm, dry winds, the fires have grown so big, and so fast, that the immediate goal set by fire officials was not as much to stop the spread as to slow it."
Fires are still spreading, nowhere near containment, and the firefighters are stretched beyond their limits. If the winds do not abate or even escalate, the whole wine growing region could be wiped out. Where's the Federal assistance? The US Army Corps of Engineers and helicopter brigades should be called in to help. The costs mounting to cover the damage are going to make rescue costs pale in comparison. But with our inept Trump at the helm, he probably won't bother until its really too late.

 

[Spot's Meow]

It's at least 40 dead now. I have been affected by the smoke, but thankfully the fires are not close enough to where I live or work to be a concern. The photos are really hard to comprehend. I can't imagine losing everything like that...you'd really be starting over with nothing, as if you just moved out of your parent's house for the first time.