Seventeen devastating wildfires have continued to burn up and down the state of California on Tuesday razing through more than 94,000 acres of land while desperate efforts to quell the expanding inferno have sent tens of thousands of locals fleeing, left millions without power, and turned the ocean in Malibu pink with fire retardant.
The Getty Fire, which erupted Monday in Los Angeles County, is the latest blaze to rage fury in the Golden State and has burned through 618 acres as of Tuesday morning. The fire encroached upon luxurious celebrity neighborhoods sending stars LeBron James, Kate Hudson and Arnold Schwarzenegger seeking shelter.
The fires left 1,065,00 people without power over the weekend and displaced 200,000 people in the San Francisco Bay area due to the Kincade Fire – the most menacing fire in California at the moment.
The Kincade Fire, which ignited on October 23, has swelled to twice the size of San Francisco in just 24 hours destroying the heart of wine country by scorching a whopping 74,324 acres of land. As of Monday evening the expanding fire was just 15 percent contained.
San Francisco firefighters shared heart-stopping video on Tuesday showing the front window view of a firetruck rushing to the front lines of the fire on a burning hill in Sonoma County, passing through thick smoke, orange flames, and blazing embers.
San Francisco firefighters shared heart-stopping video on Tuesday showing the front window view of a firetruck rushing to the front lines of the fire on a burning hill, passing through thick smoke, orange flames, and blazing embers
San Francisco Firefighters Local 798 shared the footage showing the Kincade Fire rage at 3am adding ‘We appreciate their complete dedication to the task of protecting lives and property.’
Seventeen wildfires are currently blazing in California, razing through 94,000 acres of land as of Tuesday. Firefighters pictured above tackling the Getty fire near the Getty Center in Los Angeles on Monday evening
Efforts to quell the fire from spreading led authorities to sprinkle fire retardant over Malibu, turning the ocean pink
This NASA photo released Tuesday from NASA’s Terra satellite shows the massive smoke plume cascading down California’s coast from the devastating Kincade Fire in Sonoma County which has grown past 74,000 acres
Eleven of the biggest fires raging through California pictured above. The Getty Fire in Los Angeles is the latest fire which sparked Monday and threatened some of the city’s wealthiest neighborhoods. Meanwhile the devastating Kincade fire in northern California swelled to twice the size of San Francisco by Tuesday
San Francisco Firefighters Local 798 shared the footage on Twitter showing the Kincade Fire rage at 3am adding: ‘We appreciate their complete dedication to the task of protecting lives and property.’
So far the Kincade Fire has destroyed 123 structures – 57 of which were residential homes. About 90,000 structures are still threatened by the blaze, according to Cal Fire spokesman Jonathan Cox.
‘We’re playing both offense and defense right now on two different sides of the fire, and we’re going to have to flip-flop that tomorrow when that wind event comes through,’ he said Monday evening at a press conference.
The Kincade fire is particularly hard to contain due to the steep topography of the densely forested hills it’s located in. It’s also fueled by hurricane-force winds that saw it grow at a rate of one football field every three seconds when it first ignited, CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller said.
Winds are expected to reach 20 to 30mph on Tuesday and will reach 50mph by evening. Officials believe the blaze can be put out by November 7.
‘We tentatively believe the fire will be contained November 7th, again that is our best estimate based on models and projections,’ Cox said. ‘As far as when every smoking stump may be extinguished, that could be weeks if not months.’
There have been no deaths reported in the Kincade Fires however two first responders have been hospitalized due to burns, officials said. Cox said one person suffered a serious burn injury and was flown to UC Davis Medical Center and a second person was treated at a local hospital for a minor burn.
The perilous winds led Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. to enforce a blackout starting early Tuesday that will cut power for 596,000 customers – about 1.5million people – spanning 29 Northern California counties, according to Fox News.
The utility began by shutting power off for 46,000 customers in Butte, Tehama, Plumas, Trinity and Shasta counties.
An Illinois couple who got married in Sonoma County in Northern California, in the midst of Kincade’s fury, posed for a dramatic wedding portrait on Saturday wearing masks.
Wedding photographer Karna Roa took the poignant of the newlyweds Katie and Curtis Ferland, of Chicago, who got married at the Chateau St. Jean Winery in Kenwood as the Kincade Fire burned just miles away.
‘The whole area, of course, was super smoky,’ Roa said to Fox. ‘I would love to say this is the first time it has happened, but this is the third year in a row in October that wine country has experienced this.’
Small fires have contributed to the overall fire catastrophe ravaging California. On Sunday a grass fire broke out along the I-5 highway in Natomas near Sacramento, torching cars and sending local scrambling on foot for safety.
Good Samaritan Gerald Contreras recorded the chaos along the highway where the median caught ablaze. In the harrowing footage he guides trapped drivers to drive through a cut hole in a wire fence to escape the blazing road.
‘The median actually caught fire and I think that’s what scared a lot of people. So, a lot of the cars were trying to get away from the median and they were going to the shoulder. And then the fire caught on the shoulder as well and they were trapped,’ Contreras said to ABC10.
‘Fortunately, everybody got out OK. There was nobody hurt other than a few cars,’ Contreras added.
On Sunday a grass fire broke out along the I-5 highway in Natomas near Sacramento, torching cars and sending local scrambling on foot for safety
Good Samaritan Gerald Contreras recorded the chaos along the highway where the median caught ablaze. In the harrowing footage he guides trapped drivers to drive through a cut hole in a wire fence to escape the blazing road
Frantic locals were seen running away from the sudden grass blaze under the direction of Contreras
‘Fortunately, everybody got out OK. There was nobody hurt other than a few cars,’ Contreras said on the grass blaze
Several of the fires are concentrated in LA County. The Saddle Ridge Fire, which started on October 10, continues to wreak havoc in LA country spanning 8,79 acres. The Tick Fire, which started on October 24, is also expanding in LA county covering 4,65 acres.
The fires have raised alarm as they come in the wake of last year’s devastating fires which decimated California and raised concern over how wildfires have been growing in intensity over the past few years.
The World Meteorological Organization reported although wildfires have decreased over the years, they’ve grown in their size, intensity, and scope.
On Tuesday more than 26 million people from California to Arizona were placed under red flag warnings meaning winds, temperatures and humidity levels were dangerous and prone to spreading fires.
The Getty Fire is currently threatening some of the wealthiest areas of Los Angeles as crews work for a second day to tackle the flames and prevent the brush fire from spreading.
As of Tuesday morning the fire was just 5% contained and more than 20,000 people were under evacuation orders.
The Getty Fire, which erupted Monday in Los Angeles County, is the latest blaze to rage fury in the Golden State and has razed through 618 acres as of Tuesday morning. The fire encroached upon luxurious celebrity neighborhoods sending stars LeBron James, Kate Hudson and Arnold Schwarzenegger seeking shelter
These hotspots on the map issued by the National Weather Service show were the most intense fires were burning on Monday, October 28 both in and around Los Angeles and Northern California
A firefighter tries to hose down flames as a home burns in the Getty fire area along Tigertail Road
A man walks past a home being destroyed by the Getty fire in Los Angeles
Fire and fury: Flames ravage a farm structure in Windsor where the Kincade Fire was only 15 per cent contained last night and may not be fully under control until the second week of November
Firefighters try to dampen the Getty fire as it climbs a hillside on Mandeville Canyon
The homes of Kate Hudson, Gwyneth Paltrow, LeBron James, Josh Duhamel, and Arnold Schwarzenegger are located in an area under mandatory evacuation orders
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James revealed his family had to evacuate their house in the middle of the night, saying the fires were ‘no joke’
It’s not clear how much, if any, damage LeBron James’ multi-million dollar home (pictured before the fire) has sustained
The area from Mulholland Drive south and east to the 405 Freeway where evacuated, sending 20,000 residents packing, as per the Los Angeles Fire Department.
So far eight residences have been destroyed and six have been damaged but at least 10,000 residences remain threatened by the fire, as per CNN.
The fire is believed to have been sparked by a downed power pole, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a news conference Monday. An investigation s taking place to see if that is true.
‘We just don’t have a definitive answer. Our focus right now is getting people back in their homes,’ LA Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey said to Bloomberg.
For the moment the fire has not expanded and crews are working to keep it that way.
‘The good news is that the fire has not grown at all,’ Garcetti said. ‘It remains in place where it is,’ he added.
The famed Getty Center museum, a renown LA landmark home to Rembrandt and Van Gogh works from the top of the Santa Monica Mountains was spared from the fire as its located just outside the evacuation area.
The Getty Fire threatens 90,000 buildings in its evacuation zone and around 587,000 Pacific Gas & Electric customers remained without power on Monday afternoon due to intentional blackouts meant to limit the risk of wildfires expanding, according to the New York Times.