Tag Archives: Wildfires

Wildfires kill 4 people on Portugal’s Madeira, 1000 evacuated

A general view of Sitio de Curral dos Romeiros during the wildfires at Funchal, Madeira island, Portugal,

LISBON (Reuters) – At least four people died and more than a thousand were evacuated on the Portuguese island of Madeira when forest fires, raging for a third day, spread to the regional capital and tourist destination, Funchal, authorities said on Wednesday.

Set off in a summer heatwave and fanned by strong winds, the fires have destroyed about 40 homes and a five-star hotel in the hills above Funchal.

On mainland Portugal, thousands of firefighters were still struggling to control hundreds of forest fires – mainly in the north – that have destroyed homes, shut major motorways for hours, and forced the evacuation of several villages this week.

The fire in Funchal was mostly under control, regional governor Miguel Albuquerque told a televised news conference, but several were still raging across the island.

He said 80 people were in hospital suffering from burns and smoke inhalation, including two in a serious condition.

All those killed and injured by the fires were local residents. One person was missing, Albuquerque said.

More than a thousand residents and tourists were sent to makeshift shelters and army barracks during the night although some had been allowed to return since. Two hospitals in the area were also evacuated.

(Reporting by Andrei Khalip; Editing by Louise Ireland)

California firefighters contain most of state’s biggest wildfire

Firefighter Robert Aikman extinguishes a hot spot at a residence leveled by the Erskine Fire in South Lake

(Reuters) – Firefighters in central California had by Wednesday contained most of a major blaze that ranks as the biggest and deadliest of several that are raging in an early summer heatwave.

Crews had contained about 60 percent of fire, named Erskine, up from 15 percent on Tuesday, in the drought-parched foothills near Lake Isabella in Kern County, about 110 miles (180 km) north of Los Angeles, fire managers said.

A major highway through the area had also been reopened and more evacuees had been allowed to return home, authorities said.

About 1,800 firefighters were battling the blaze that has burned 47,000 acres, or more than 70 square miles (190 square km), since it started on Thursday.

Erskine was largely unchecked during its first two days as high winds drove flames fast through several communities south of the lake, burning more than 250 structures to the ground as residents fled for safety.

The charred remains of two people were found on Friday just beyond the ruins of their home, Kern County sheriff’s spokesman Ray Pruitt said. Authorities warned that salvage crews might find more bodies as they make their way through devastated neighborhoods to inspect the damage.

The two victims were identified by the Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin as a priest and his wife, Byron and Gladys McKaig – California’s first wildfire fatalities of 2016.

The wildfire season officially began in May but the nine major fires that have started in California over the past week marked the first widespread outbreak of intense fires this year. Erskine is by far the largest and most destructive of those.

Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said the state had already experienced some 2,400 wildfires, small and large, since January. They burned a total of 99,000 acres.

Authorities are investigating what caused Erskine.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien; Editing by Louise Ireland)

Firefighters gain ground over devastating California blaze

A firetruck drives through a neighborhood decimated by the Erskine Fire in South Lake, California,

By Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Firefighters in the foothills of central California have made significant gains against a blaze that has killed at least two people and destroyed scores of homes in a devastating start to the state’s wildfire season, authorities said on Monday.

Crews had carved containment lines around 40 percent of the fire’s perimeter by Sunday night, up from 10 percent earlier in the day, and evacuation orders were lifted on Monday for two communities previously threatened.

Officials however reported a higher toll of property losses on Monday, with about 250 structures reduced to rubble, 50 more than estimated the previous day, and 75 buildings damaged.

The so-called Erskine Fire had blackened more than 45,000 acres of drought-parched brush and grass by Monday morning on the fringes of Lake Isabella in Kern County, California, about 110 miles (180 km) north of Los Angeles.

The blaze erupted Thursday afternoon and spread quickly through several communities south of the lake, driven by high winds, as it roared largely unchecked for two days and forced hundreds of residents from their homes.

Some 2,500 homes were threatened by flames at the fire’s peak.

On Friday, at least two people were confirmed to have been killed in the blaze. Kern County fire authorities warned that the death toll could rise as investigators combed through the rubble of homes that went up in flames.

Anglican priest Byron McKaig and his wife, Gladys, were killed in the fire, Bishop Eric Menees of the Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin said in a statement.

The cause of the fire was under investigation.

More than 2,000 personnel have been assigned to the blaze, the biggest and most destructive of nine large wildfires burning up and down the state, from the Klamath National Forest near Oregon to desert scrubland close to the Mexico border. Most of those were at least 60 percent contained by Monday.

A blistering heat wave that has baked much of California in abnormally high temperatures ranging from the upper 90s to the triple digits has been a major factor contributing to the conflagrations.

While California’s wildfire season officially began in May, the rash of blazes since last week signaled the state’s first widespread outbreak of intense, deadly fire activity this year.

Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said the state had already experienced some 2,400 wildfires, small and large, since January. They burned a total of 99,000 acres (400 square km).

Winter and spring rainfalls helped ease drought conditions but also helped spur growth of grasses and brush that have since dried out, providing more potential fuel for wildfires, he said.

(Reporting by Steve Gorman; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Paul Tait)

Firefighters to battle against flames, dry California weather

Wildfire in California June 2016

(Reuters) – Firefighters on Thursday were set to face high temperatures and gusty winds as they battle five large fires burning in drought-stricken California, officials said, though progress allowed authorities to lift some earlier evacuation orders.

The National Weather Service issued so-called red flag weather warnings for a tract of southern California for Thursday, including for mountains in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara counties where wildfires were already burning.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Daniel Berlant said the weather conditions could fuel existing blazes or contribute to new fires.

“We’re preparing for what could be another busy day,” Berlant said.

Authorities on Wednesday lifted evacuation orders on 534 homes in foothills northeast of Los Angeles that had been imposed as firefighters struggled to get control of two wildfires called the San Gabriel Complex. Evacuation orders were still in effect for another 324 homes.

As of Wednesday night, the blaze had charred 4,900 acres of chaparral and short grass, and containment lines had been drawn around 15 percent of the flames, according to fire information website InciWeb.

To the south, firefighters managed to slow the spread of a massive fire near the Mexican border town of Potrero, prompting officials to lift some evacuation orders there as well. Fire officials said some 200 structures were under threat as of Wednesday night, down from a peak of 1,000.

That fire, about 50 miles (80 km) southeast of San Diego, has blackened more than 6,700 acres and was 20 percent contained as of Wednesday night, fire officials said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday said the risk of catastrophic wildfires had increased because of the 66 million trees that had died in California from 2010 to October 2015. Some 26 million of them were in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains.

(Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Alison Williams)

drcolbert.monthly

Canadian oilfield workers readying return after wildfire

Burned out homes from Canadian Wildfire

By Nia Williams and Ernest Scheyder

CALGARY/LAC LA BICHE, Alberta (Reuters) – Workers for one of the largest oil sands companies affected by a wildfire in northern Canada will begin returning to the shuttered facilities on Thursday, a union official said, the latest indication the key petroleum production area was slowly coming back online.

Meanwhile, also on Wednesday, the premier of the province of Alberta and the head of the Canadian Red Cross announced that residents of Fort McMurray, the oil-boom town that was evacuated last week because of the fire, would be offered direct financial aid.

In Ottawa, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau established an ad hoc cabinet committee to coordinate federal relief efforts. Trudeau will tour the fire zone on Friday.

Ken Smith, president of Unifor Local 707, the union that represents 3,400 Suncor Energy Inc workers, said the company would start to fly employees back to its oil sands base plant from Thursday.

“It will take a few days to get the plant up and in condition to start handling feed,” Smith said.

Facilities north of Fort McMurray that had been shuttered largely because of heavy smoke rather than fire were likely to come back on line first, in a matter of days in many cases.

Roughly 1 million barrels per day (bpd) of output were shut down during the fire, about half of the oil sands’ usual daily production.

Late Wednesday, Enbridge Inc said it had restarted its 550,000 bpd Line 18 pipeline, which carries crude from the company’s Cheecham terminal 380 kilometers (236 miles) south to the regional crude trading hub of Edmonton.

Enbridge also said crews were on site at its facilities in the Fort McMurray region and confirmed its terminals were not damaged by the wildfire.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc was the first company to resume operations in the area, restarting its Albian Sands mines at a reduced rate. The facility can produce up to 255,000 bpd.

Syncrude, controlled by Suncor, restarted power generation at its oil sands mine in Aurora, north of the city, on Tuesday as it began planning to resume operations. The site has a total capacity of around 315,000 bpd.

Dozens of repair trucks and other vehicles headed for the oil fields on Wednesday, driving north along the main highway into the area, a Reuters eyewitness said. Some were towing heavy equipment.

Still, some projects to the south and east of Fort McMurray remained unreachable as the fire threat persisted.

The town remained shut to residents.

“The area is still very … dangerous with some hot spots still throughout the city and areas of concern,” said Kevin Kunetzki of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Around 300 RCMP members are patrolling the town and have found 100 homes showing signs of break-ins. This could be a result of concerned residents trying to check on neighbors, rather than burglars, he told a news conference in Edmonton.

The size of the fire was little changed on Wednesday at roughly 229,000 hectares (566,000 acres) and moving away from the community.

There are 700 firefighters, 32 helicopters, 13 air tankers and 83 pieces of heavy equipment units working on the Fort McMurray fire, the government said.

Alberta is making cash available immediately to the 90,000 evacuees from the fire zone. The funds, C$1,250 per adult and C$500 per child, would be distributed by debit cards beginning immediately to evacuees in Edmonton, Calgary and Lac La Biche.

Canadian Red Cross Chief Executive Conrad Sauve said his agency was making C$50 million in funds available to the relief effort now, out of C$67 million that had been raised so far. The money will be distributed as electronic funds transfers of C$600 for each adult and C$300 for each child, he said.

“This is the most important cash transfer we have done in our history and the fastest one,” he told a news conference with Alberta premier Rachel Notley.

The local government council held its first meeting since the evacuations in Edmonton on Thursday. The mood was somber and defiant.

Authorities in Lac la Biche, a small town south of Fort McMurray where many evacuees are staying, opened its fishing season four days early to provide temporary residents “with a well-deserved family recreational opportunity,” a statement said.

(Additional reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa, Liz Hampton in Calgary and Allison Martell in Toronto; Writing by Dan Burns in Toronto; Editing by Alan Crosby)

Nearly 1,600 Homes Destroyed by Northern California Wildfires

Another 162 homes North of San Francisco have been destroyed, raising the number of homes destroyed to 1,050, and making it the third worst wildfire in California’s history.

California fire officials announced the numbers on Sunday stating that the two wildfires in North California have destroyed nearly 1,600 homes. The fires have also killed five people.

Cal Fire reported Monday that the Valley Fire was about 69% contained but an additional 6,563 residential buildings were at risk from the wildfire north of San Francisco. Daniel Berlant the spokesman for the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection stated teams have completed about 80% of the damage assessment. At this time, only homes have been accounted for, additional structures like barns, sheds, and other outbuildings have not been counted.

The Butte Fire, a second large blaze about 170 miles southeast in the Sierra Nevada foothills, is threatening another 6,400 structures and has destroyed about 550 homes and 356 outbuildings.

Cal Fire reported on Twitter that the Butte Fire was 72% contained early Monday. The evacuation orders were lifted on Saturday, but some residents had nothing left.

“Everything was destroyed,” said Annie Curtis, 16, an evacuee from Mountain Ranch, told KCRA.

“My house, the barn, the woodshed, three cars, some tractors, a whole backhoe, the tires melted off,” she said.

Another fire in Monterey Country, named the Tassajara fire, is reportedly 30% contained as of Monday.

Military Troops Brought in to Fight Western Wildfires

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.

Second California Firefighter Killed Fighting Wildfires

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.

Major California Fire Jumps Highway

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.