1 dead as Wine Country fires burn hundreds of homes and businesses, force evacuations

[sunny47]

1 dead as Wine Country fires burn hundreds of homes and businesses, force evacuations, close hospitals
34 mins ago
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

A swarm of wildfires ripped through Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino counties Monday, killing one resident, destroying hundreds of homes and businesses, forcing thousands to flee and turning wide swaths of the Wine Country into wastelands of twisted metal and ash as firefighters sought to contain flames super-charged by powerful winds

California Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency for Napa and Sonoma counties, seeking to streamline aid for firefighting and recovery. He said the fires, which blanketed much of the Bay Area in smoke, were “really serious,” but added, “We are on it.”

One of the main fires roared in the Atlas Peak area of Napa County, a famed winemaking spot northeast of the city of Napa and the Silverado Trail where at least 50 structures were leveled. Another fire burned north of Carneros, and still another near Kenwood, east of Santa Rosa in Sonoma County

In Mendocino County, the Sheriff’s Office reported a fire-related death. Capt. Gregory Van Patten said flames surged early Monday from Potter Valley west toward Redwood Valley as wind gusts downed trees and power lines. Evacuations were ordered, but the fire burned structures, killed one person and caused numerous injuries, he said

Perhaps the worst damage came in the jagged path of an out-of-control blaze in and around northern Santa Rosa called the Tubbs Fire, which had burned at least 35,000 acres by Monday morning, according to officials. The fire had started Sunday in Calistoga and burned west through canyons and over hills

[sunny47]

CNN‏
Verified account
*@CNN 9m
9 minutes ago


More
Latest on California wildfires:

- 11 dead
- 20,000 evacuated
- 119,000 acres burned
- 1,500 buildings destroyed

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

[sunny47]

The numbers that reveal the scope of the California wildfires.
10/10/2017



More than a dozen wildfires are scorching Northern California, aided by the state's epic drought, low humidity and high winds. Here's some eye-popping numbers that tell the scope of the tragedy.
At least 11 people are dead, including seven in the wine country city of Santa Rosa, but that number will most likely rise: Sonoma County alone received more than 100 missing person calls.

More than 119,000 acres have been burned, much of it the lush, picturesque landscape of the state's beloved wine country. The area burned so far in Napa and Sonoma is three times larger than Washington DC

More than 20,000 people have been evacuated from their homes; two hospitals were also cleared out

All 160 mobile homes at the Journey's End trailer park in Santa Rosa were destroyed

Nearly 35,000 are without power throughout the state.

More than 1,500 homes and businesses were destroyed.

The fires were fueled by wicked 50 mph winds.

[SaraSidle]

this is so awful

[~tj~]

The numbers that reveal the scope of the California wildfires.
10/10/2017



More than a dozen wildfires are scorching Northern California, aided by the state's epic drought, low humidity and high winds. Here's some eye-popping numbers that tell the scope of the tragedy.
At least 11 people are dead, including seven in the wine country city of Santa Rosa, but that number will most likely rise: Sonoma County alone received more than 100 missing person calls.

More than 119,000 acres have been burned, much of it the lush, picturesque landscape of the state's beloved wine country. The area burned so far in Napa and Sonoma is three times larger than Washington DC

More than 20,000 people have been evacuated from their homes; two hospitals were also cleared out

All 160 mobile homes at the Journey's End trailer park in Santa Rosa were destroyed

Nearly 35,000 are without power throughout the state.

More than 1,500 homes and businesses were destroyed.

The fires were fueled by wicked 50 mph winds.

That's just unreal. Devastating!! Those poor families!

[sunny47]

Desperate calls to save those trapped by fire, but emergency alert system failed many
10/11/2017
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

The distress calls crackled over the Napa County sheriff's dispatch radio in a rapid staccato late Sunday as flames sped toward residents on Atlas Peak Road.
"Parents trapped in garage," an officer called in to the central dispatcher. Then: "The fire is moving quickly through here

Two minutes later, the dispatcher sent someone to another house on the same road: "Two people trapped."
A minute passed, then a call to still another house: "An elderly lady trapped."

The dispatcher sent out an all-points request to send "any units in the area," then made a chilling plea: "Two people called, advising their house is on fire, and they need help evacuating."
Over the radio, officers in the field reported propane tanks exploding throughout the neighborhood, which would soon lay in ruins

The dispatch calls, which began pouring out after 10:30 p.m., less than an hour after the fire was first reported, provide a harrowing narrative of the frantic, confusing efforts to rescue people from the Atlas Peak fire, which by Tuesday had burned 25,000 acres and destroyed more than 100 structures

On Tuesday, Napa County officials confirmed the identity of an elderly couple who died in their home in the neighborhood: World War II veteran Charles Rippey, 100, and his wife, Sara, 98. They had just celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary.
In what has been called one of the worst firestorms in state history, at least 1,500 homes, businesses and other structures have been destroyed in 16 fires in Northern California in recent days

At least 17 people, including the Rippeys, have died in the fires.
In Napa County - where at least three major wildfires, the Atlas Peak, Tubbs and 1,000-acre Partrick fire burned - the chaos was accentuated by a problematic alert system. Residents reported difficulties receiving fire alerts, an issue possibly caused by fire damage to cellphone towers, officials said Tuesday.

[sunny47]

Burned up and priced out: Santa Rosa fire evacuees fear they can't afford to return
3 hrs ago
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]


For Sharon Ditmore, the signs of the holidays showing up in this city devastated by fire are both comforting and depressing.
Ditmore lost her home in the working-class neighborhood of Coffey Park and has been living in a friend's guesthouse. She can't help but think back to the Thanksgiving gatherings she enjoyed with family members in the home she and her husband had rented for nearly 30 years.
But in the future, she and the thousands of others who lost homes see nothing but uncertainty. With rents surging as high as $13,000 a month in the aftermath of a fire that destroyed 3,000 Santa Rosa homes, they are not sure they will be able to afford to stay in the increasingly expensive wine country city.

My landlord said he plans to rebuild," said Ditmore, 62, who ran a day care business out of her home. "If I can afford to move back, I will. But like so many others, I'll have to wait and see."
Hers was one of hundreds of homes that burned down last month in Coffey Park, where about 40 percent of the residents were renters. A website recently posted by Gallaher Construction Inc. of Santa Rosa - titled "Bring Back Coffey Park: Looking to Rebuild or Sell?" - has only stoked concerns that a neighborhood reduced to ashes will be rebuilt as something vastly different.
A month after wildfires ripped through this city of more than 160,000, there are debates about the fate of working-class residents and undocumented immigrants, the shortage of available housing for displaced residents that has pushed rental rates into the stratosphere, and whether the firestorm will trigger an exodus of engineers, doctors and nurses, teachers, emergency responders and agricultural workers - and with it an economic downturn.

The dissension is playing out at town hall gatherings, on social media platforms and in the opinion pages of local newspapers as the hard facts about the economic and social costs of rebuilding efforts start to take hold.
"It's chaos here because we've got big issues with big cost considerations - and no plan in place to tackle them," said Keith Christopherson, who owns a construction company that built hundreds of the ridgeline homes destroyed in Santa Rosa's affluent Fountaingrove district.
"When people ask what it'll cost to rebuild their homes, I say, 'I don't know,' to keep their spirits up," he said. "But the truth is that costs and rent payments will be pushed up by code upgrades and severe shortages of local available housing, labor and basic building materials such as wall board, concrete and paint."