California Fires Live Updates: Calif 1 Dead In California Fire, As Lightning-Strike Fires Push Resources On Limit
The onslaught of flames raging across California has turned deadly, promising the first casualty as thousands of firefighting personnel battle to comprise 23 major complicated blazes across the state.
A helicopter pilot who had been battling among the state's smaller fires in central California has expired while the craft crashed, according to Cal Fire officials.
"This morning a Call When Needed helicopter crashed while fighting a wildfire in Western Fresno County," the bureau stated.
The Bell UH-IH helicopter was on a water dropping mission on the Hills Fire at the time of this Crash.
"The pilot was the only man aboard the helicopter and didn't survive the incident."
The helicopter was among six fighting to include the fire at Fresno County, which has been hard to reach because of steep terrain and restricted access, according to Cal Fire.
The catastrophe comes as a blitz of lightning strikes amid a blistering heat wave have ignited countless simultaneous fires across California, extending the nation's resources to the limit.
At Wednesday afternoon roughly 6,900 fire employees from federal, state and local agencies are called in to battle the fires as they engulf rural and residential areas equally, Cal Fire officials reported.
The lightning and thunderstorms that began on Sunday, combined with extremely high temperatures and dangerous air quality have exacerbated the ferocity of their blazes and rate with which they're spreading. That's prompted the evacuations of thousands of individuals as crews attempt to avoid the flames from ravaging entire neighborhoods.
"Over the past 72 hours the nation has been besieged with a historic lightning siege which has led to approximately 10,849 lightning strikes throughout the state, causing more than 367 new fires," Cal Fire's Public Information Officer for the LNU Lightning Complex fire Jeremy Rahn, said in a Wednesday press conference.
"Fire fighting resources are depleted," Rahn said, adding that "the dimension and sophistication at which these events are now burning is tough all aspects of emergency response."
Up to now, California has requested 375 fire engines from neighboring states and it has hired "nearly all accessible private firefighting call-when-needed aircraft at the western United States," he explained.
In all, fire officials have identified 23 major complex fires -- people are different, disconnected fires that are burning within a particular geographic region in close proximity to one another.
Gov. Gavin Newsom remarked on the unique catastrophe the state faces beneath the current intense weather conditions during his very own news briefing a few hours later.
"We are experiencing flames, the likes of which we've not seen in a lot of years," Newsom said.
The government declared a state of emergency on Tuesday clearing a route to more easily protected federal grants and firefighting assistance from other states.
While several fires have been tearing through Southern California for at least a week, Northern California has been particularly hard hit in recent days.
The LNU Lightning Sophisticated fire consists of many blazes throughout Napa and Sonoma counties. Together the fast-moving flames have burned over 46,000 acres as of Wednesday mid-day and destroyed or damaged about 100 structures, Cal Fire reported. The fires were at zero percent containment.
"A wall of fires throughout the Spanish Flat Mobile Villa... reducing houses to vehicles and ashes to piles of melted metal," reported KPIX, the CBS affiliate in the Bay region.
Not far from the wine area, the CSU Lightning Complex fires have consumed more than 85,000 acres over five counties.
It is roughly 5 percent included.
The CZU August Lightning Sophisticated fire is just another raging blaze. "High Definition temperatures and limited resources" have expanded the flame, which has now reached 10,000 acres, Cal Fire stated.
Meanwhile, Southern California is contending with three massive fires which have spanned roughly 73,200 acres and threaten the existence of countless communities.
The Lake Fire has spread across 26,000 acres, the Dome Fire has charred over 20,000 acres within the Mojave National Preserve, and the Ranch 2 fire has swallowed 4,300 acres. Not one is over 40% included.
Although Newsom declared that firefighting employees "are stretched in ways that we haven't seen in several years," on Wednesday he rejected criticism that the state had been unprepared for the onslaught of wildfires.
He noticed extensive collaboration with FEMA and other nations, including Arizona and Texas, that were put in place through the years to deal with these calamities.
"We prepared for it," Newsom said.
An additional Cal Fire budget boost of $85.6 million "to deliver on permanent firefighting forces" has been approved by the state legislature earlier this year, despite the economic belt tightening caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Newsom said.
The governor reported 830 added seasonal fighters have been hired in the past couple of weeks to fight the busy wildfires. And much more help is expected to arrive from Texas
The fires will also be smothering substantial swaths of the state with harmful smoke and ashes forcing many who will to remain inside. But that is also putting pressure on the country's energy infrastructure which is under huge strain as the heat wave has triggered rolling blackouts.
And there is not much reprieve expected for at least a couple of days.
Another, unexpected complication which has emerged as a result of the coronavirus pandemic is really where to send people who have been evacuated from their homes. Statewide health and safety guidelines require that evacuees not be crammed together in enclosed spaces are that they typically when people wait out emergencies.
A helicopter pilot who had been battling among the state's smaller fires in central California has expired while the craft crashed, according to Cal Fire officials.
"This morning a Call When Needed helicopter crashed while fighting a wildfire in Western Fresno County," the bureau stated.
The Bell UH-IH helicopter was on a water dropping mission on the Hills Fire at the time of this Crash.
"The pilot was the only man aboard the helicopter and didn't survive the incident."
The helicopter was among six fighting to include the fire at Fresno County, which has been hard to reach because of steep terrain and restricted access, according to Cal Fire.
The catastrophe comes as a blitz of lightning strikes amid a blistering heat wave have ignited countless simultaneous fires across California, extending the nation's resources to the limit.
At Wednesday afternoon roughly 6,900 fire employees from federal, state and local agencies are called in to battle the fires as they engulf rural and residential areas equally, Cal Fire officials reported.
The lightning and thunderstorms that began on Sunday, combined with extremely high temperatures and dangerous air quality have exacerbated the ferocity of their blazes and rate with which they're spreading. That's prompted the evacuations of thousands of individuals as crews attempt to avoid the flames from ravaging entire neighborhoods.
"Over the past 72 hours the nation has been besieged with a historic lightning siege which has led to approximately 10,849 lightning strikes throughout the state, causing more than 367 new fires," Cal Fire's Public Information Officer for the LNU Lightning Complex fire Jeremy Rahn, said in a Wednesday press conference.
"Fire fighting resources are depleted," Rahn said, adding that "the dimension and sophistication at which these events are now burning is tough all aspects of emergency response."
Up to now, California has requested 375 fire engines from neighboring states and it has hired "nearly all accessible private firefighting call-when-needed aircraft at the western United States," he explained.
In all, fire officials have identified 23 major complex fires -- people are different, disconnected fires that are burning within a particular geographic region in close proximity to one another.
Gov. Gavin Newsom remarked on the unique catastrophe the state faces beneath the current intense weather conditions during his very own news briefing a few hours later.
"We are experiencing flames, the likes of which we've not seen in a lot of years," Newsom said.
The government declared a state of emergency on Tuesday clearing a route to more easily protected federal grants and firefighting assistance from other states.
While several fires have been tearing through Southern California for at least a week, Northern California has been particularly hard hit in recent days.
The LNU Lightning Sophisticated fire consists of many blazes throughout Napa and Sonoma counties. Together the fast-moving flames have burned over 46,000 acres as of Wednesday mid-day and destroyed or damaged about 100 structures, Cal Fire reported. The fires were at zero percent containment.
"A wall of fires throughout the Spanish Flat Mobile Villa... reducing houses to vehicles and ashes to piles of melted metal," reported KPIX, the CBS affiliate in the Bay region.
Not far from the wine area, the CSU Lightning Complex fires have consumed more than 85,000 acres over five counties.
It is roughly 5 percent included.
The CZU August Lightning Sophisticated fire is just another raging blaze. "High Definition temperatures and limited resources" have expanded the flame, which has now reached 10,000 acres, Cal Fire stated.
Meanwhile, Southern California is contending with three massive fires which have spanned roughly 73,200 acres and threaten the existence of countless communities.
The Lake Fire has spread across 26,000 acres, the Dome Fire has charred over 20,000 acres within the Mojave National Preserve, and the Ranch 2 fire has swallowed 4,300 acres. Not one is over 40% included.
Although Newsom declared that firefighting employees "are stretched in ways that we haven't seen in several years," on Wednesday he rejected criticism that the state had been unprepared for the onslaught of wildfires.
He noticed extensive collaboration with FEMA and other nations, including Arizona and Texas, that were put in place through the years to deal with these calamities.
"We prepared for it," Newsom said.
An additional Cal Fire budget boost of $85.6 million "to deliver on permanent firefighting forces" has been approved by the state legislature earlier this year, despite the economic belt tightening caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Newsom said.
The governor reported 830 added seasonal fighters have been hired in the past couple of weeks to fight the busy wildfires. And much more help is expected to arrive from Texas
The fires will also be smothering substantial swaths of the state with harmful smoke and ashes forcing many who will to remain inside. But that is also putting pressure on the country's energy infrastructure which is under huge strain as the heat wave has triggered rolling blackouts.
And there is not much reprieve expected for at least a couple of days.
Another, unexpected complication which has emerged as a result of the coronavirus pandemic is really where to send people who have been evacuated from their homes. Statewide health and safety guidelines require that evacuees not be crammed together in enclosed spaces are that they typically when people wait out emergencies.