With over 100 wildfires burning in Western states, the U.S. military is now training troops to join the fight against them and provide relief to some of the 25,000 firefighters on scene.
The National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) reported that 200 active duty troops will be split into 10 units of 20 men and all deployed to the same fire. The move marks the first time that active duty military has been called out to fight domestic fires. The troops will come from 17th Field Artillery Brigade of the 7th Infantry Division at Fort Lewis, Washington.
National Guard troops have already been on the scene at several fires to help firefighters.
Officials in Idaho reported that an elderly woman died and 50 homes were destroyed in a cluster of fires along the Clearwater River. The “Clearwater Complex” fire has burned more than 50,000 acres of timber & brush.
A spokesman for Clearwater fire command said that they are facing significant shortages and have had requests for reinforcements for ground forces and aircraft returned “UTF” or “unable to fill.”
Currently fourteen major wildfires are impacting Idaho. Oregon and Washington have more than 30 large fires and have totaled the highest property losses from the flames.
At least 32 homes were destroyed in fires burning in north-central Washington near the resort town of Chelan.
Some residents of the Easy Bay area didn’t need their alarm clocks to start the week as a magnitude 4.0 earthquake struck the area early Monday morning.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reported the quake struck at 6:49 a.m., three miles away from Oakland, California. The quake was felt throughout the Oakland/San Francisco area.
Oakland police Lt. Chris Bolton reported on the department’s official Twitter feed that they had no reports of injuries or damage from the quake.
The quake struck along the Hayward fault, a major fault that remains a concern for geologists in the area. The scientists believe that the fault could produce a potentially catastrophic quake that could kill tens of thousands. The Hayward fault is part of the San Andreas fault system.
The fault runs for more than 60 miles through the region from Fremont to Hayward. The fault runs under hospitals, freeways and reservoirs. It even runs from end zone to end zone at the football stadium for the University of California Berkeley.
The quake was followed by six aftershocks.
Federal meteorologists say the current El Nino is already the second strongest ever recorded for this time of year.
The officials with the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) say it could be one of the “most potent weather changers” in the last 65 years.
“There is a greater than 90% chance that El Niño will continue through Northern Hemisphere winter 2015-16, and around an 85% chance it will last into early spring 2016,” the NOAA said in a statement.
However, one NOAA official is warning that it might not bring the rain needed to end the drought in California and other western states.
“A big El Nino guarantees nothing,” said Mike Halper, deputy director of NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center. “At this point there’s no cause for rejoicing that El Nino is here to save the day.”
El Nino, created when the water in the Pacific Ocean is warmer than normal, usually brings large amounts of winter rain to California and snow to the Rocky Mountain range.
California’s state climatologist, Michael Anderson, told the New York Times that California would need one and half times the normal amount of rainfall to get out of their drought conditions and he found that unlikely to take place.
“The one important element is that El Niño events are associated with large variability of outcome,” he said. And while people tend to remember years with powerful El Niño effects, he said, “People don’t associate as strongly the years when an El Niño event didn’t lead to a big outcome.”
Federal investigators appear stymied by an attacker who has cut fiber optic cables at a dozen locations around California.
The attacker would cut cable that knock out internet service, financial networks and even disable emergency services.
“Everyone recognizes that there seems to be a pattern of events here,” said John Lightfoot, assistant deputy agent in charge at the FBI’s San Francisco office. “We really need the assistance of the public to reach out and help solve this one.”
Experts say the fiber optic networks that carry internet and business traffic are very vulnerable to attack when compared to systems like the national electrical grid. Most of the cables are in manholes or smaller hand-holes in out of the way locations in cities and rural areas, making it easy for an attacker to find wires and cut them without anyone seeing their actions.
“You don’t have to be well-trained to know that there is cable,” Felipe Alvarez, chief executive of East Coast telecom provider Axiom Fiber Networks, told the Wall Street Journal. “That is worrisome.”
Many of the cables are clearly marked for identification to avoid accidental cutting by work crews making them easy targets for the criminals.
While many intentional cuts come from thieves looking to take copper wire to sell, the FBI and regional anti-terror task force agents in California say the pattern of cuts is troubling. The most recent cut in California impacted internet services along the entire West Coast.
A predominantly Jewish neighborhood in San Antonio has been struck with vandalism and anti-Semitic graffiti.
Residents first noticed the graffiti as they left morning prayers at an orthodox synagogue on Wednesday.
“We came out of prayer at 7 o’clock this morning and were greeted by broken car windows, and graffiti on the car saying jew, and then a swastika and all types of graffiti that were hate graffiti,” Senior Rabbi Arnold Scheinberg told Fox San Antonio.
One of the defaced items was a memorial to victims of the holocaust that was spray painted with a swastika. Synagogue officials say that over 30 vehicles and houses were damaged in some manner by the vandals.
The synagogue serves about 300 Jewish families, most of whom live in the neighborhood.
“I want to tell those who did this that you have done something destructive,” said Rabbi Scheinberg. “Your life could be much better if you could have more love than hate.”
“We’d be happy to help you find it,” he added. “If you want to learn a little bit more about the people you hate, we could arrange that, too. (You could) learn more about Jews and people of color so you don’t just hate blindly.”
A second firefighter is dead in the battle against multiple wildfires raging through drought-stricken California.
Michael Hallenbeck, 21, died from injuries sustained when he was struck by a falling tree while fighting a fire in the Lake Tahoe area. Cal Fire reported that Hallenbeck was struck by the tree during the crew’s initial attack on the fire south of the Echo Summit mountain pass.
“The grief we are feeling at the sudden loss of two of our firefighters … reminds us of the sacrifices these men and women make every day,” said Randy Moore, the agency’s Pacific Southwest regional forester.
Cal Fire reports over 10,000 firefighters are currently fighting 18 wildfires in the state.
The largest fire, the Rocky Fire, has burned over 109 square miles including 43 homes, 53 outbuildings and 8 other buildings. Cal Fire says the fire is 85% contained as of Sunday evening.
Some of the firefighters fighting the Rocky Fire have moved to fight a nearby fire outside the community of Lower Lake. The flames are threatening the Jerusalem Valley, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of residents who had just returned Thursday from a forced evacuation due to the Rocky Fire.
Cal Fire Capt. Joe Fletcher said the two fires will likely merge.
The governor of California is telling residents to prepare for more spectacular wildfires like the Rocky Fire that’s burned over 65,000 acres in three counties.
“Fasten your seat belts,” Governor Brown said, noting that it’s been four years since California has been in drought conditions. He called the fires “a real wake-up call” for Californians.
“These are very difficult times and a real tragedy for the families,” he said.
The worst of the fires, the Rocky Fire, has now burned 69,600 acres as of Thursday afternoon. Firefighters say the blaze is 40% contained but also admitted that the fires have now claimed 43 homes and 53 outbuildings, almost double the total from two days ago.
Cal Fire officials are also closely watching the skies as “dry” thunderstorms are moving into the area. A “dry” thunderstorm is one that has very little actual rainfall but dangerous lightning that could spark a new fire.
“The gusty and erratic winds from these thunderstorms could also affect the fire spread of the remaining active fires,” Cal Fire said.
Across the United States, 118 wildfires are currently burning as of Thursday morning consuming around 2,757 square miles of land. August is considered the high point of the annual wildfire season and most wildfires have been in Alaska according to ABC.
The “Rocky fire” in California has jumped a highway that firefighters had tried to make a firebreak and has now burned over 62,000 acres.
Fire crews have the fire 12 percent contained as veteran firefighters told reporters they’ve never seen an unpredictable fire like this one.
“I’ve been a firefighter for almost 20 years and I’ve heard 30-year and 40-year firefighters say that this is unprecedented,” firefighter Steve Kaufmann told KCRA.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says the flames were pushing north and striking areas that had not burned in years.
“There were too many (spot fires) for us to pick up,” Battalion Chief Carl Schwettmann of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection told the San Francisco Chronicle. “With these drought-stricken fuels, it’s just moving at an extremely high rate of speed.”
Close to 3,100 firefighters are battling the blazes. The Air Force Reserve has called up soldiers to give some relief to the firefighters. C-130 Hercules planes from the Reserves has also joined the fight dropping fire retardant on the fire zone.
The good news is that no buildings were burned on Monday.
The wildfire known as the “Rocky Fire” in northern California has grown to over 60,000 acres in three counties and resulted in the destruction of over 50 buildings.
More than 12,000 residents have been forced to evacuate their homes because of the advancing flames. The fire was only 12% contained as of Monday morning.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said the fire grew in an area with “little to no fire history” making it more difficult for the firefighters to predict the path of the flames.
The fire is threatening over 6,300 structures.
In all, over 134,000 acres are burning.
“There are pretty widespread evacuations,” Brad Alexander, chief spokesman for the governor’s emergency services office, told the LA Times. “The big issue is this is an area that hasn’t had burning in several decades.
“They’ve got chaparral that is over 6 feet tall,” Alexander said. “When you have vegetation that big and dense in an area like that it is going to cause flames to race up and down canyon walls and hillsides. It can move as fast as the wind can carry it. …So when you have perfect conditions for an explosive fire, it is critical folks are listening.”
Officials confirmed the death of one firefighter in a fire in Modoc County south of the Oregon border. He was scouting ways to fight the fire when erratic winds suddenly caused the blaze to expand exponentially. David Ruhl was 38 and a married father of two.
Officials also said that a fire near Yosemite National Park that burned 200 acres was deliberately set and a woman is under arrest for starting the blaze.
A rapidly expanding wildfire is raging out of control in the ranch country of Northern California, forcing hundreds of people to flee their homes in advance of the flames.
The fire has already doubled in size from Thursday morning and has burned over 15,000 acres in Lake County. The blaze is just one of 18 large fires currently burning the drought-stricken state.
The entire town of Lower Lake was placed under a mandatory evacuation order. The flames roared into the Cache Creek Wilderness and Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument Area.
Shelters are being opened at high schools throughout the region for those forced to flee.
“Everything is very dry, and this fire has moved extremely fast,” said Suzie Blankenship, CalFire spokeswoman. Fire officials say the dry conditions are being enhanced by hot weather and strong winds.
A fire in North Fork, called the Willow fire, is 30% contained but firefighters have stopped trying to fight the flames because the fire advanced into a steep, densely wooded area.
Meanwhile, officials in San Bernardino County have offered a $75,000 reward for information leading to the capture of drone pilots whose craft forced fire crews to ground tanker flights over the flames.
“We want to know who was flying drones, and we want them punished,” said Jorge Ramos, chairman of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors. “Someone knows who they are, and there is $75,000 waiting for them.”
