'Horror' fires burn on, 40 dead

China Daily | Updated: 2017-10-16 07:14

Firefighters hope weaker winds will help in battle against deadly blazes

SANTA ROSA, California - Authorities hope weaker winds will help more than 10,000 firefighters battle the deadliest blazes in California history, which have killed at least 40 people and destroyed thousands of structures.

Fast-moving fires spread by shifting winds forced thousands more to evacuate their homes on Saturday as the death toll over the week rose to 40, with hundreds missing.

More than 10,000 firefighters supported by air tankers and helicopters battled 16 major wildfires in areas north of San Francisco that have consumed nearly 86,000 hectares, or roughly 865 square kilometers - an area larger than New York City.

The 40 confirmed fatalities, including 22 in Sonoma County, make it California's deadliest fire event, surpassing the 29 deaths from the Griffith Park fire of 1933 in Los Angeles.

With 235 people still missing in Sonoma County alone and rubble from thousands of incinerated dwellings yet to be searched, authorities expect the death toll to climb.

Reduced to ash

Some 100,000 people have been forced from their homes, including 3,000 on Saturday from the city of Santa Rosa, about 80 km north of San Francisco. The fires have damaged or destroyed about 5,700 structures, reducing homes and businesses to ash.

"This is truly one of the greatest tragedies that California has ever faced. The devastation is just unbelievable. It is a horror that no one could have imagined," California Governor Jerry Brown said on a visit to a devastated city.

Janis and Roberto Lucha joined people lining up at a Federal Emergency Management Agency office in Santa Rosa, seeking help after losing their home of 27 years in the city's Coffey Park neighborhood, where most homes burned to the ground.

But there were heroic stories as well. Teenage twins woke their parents on Sunday night to find fire engulfing the landscape.

The alarms from Benjamin Lasker, 16, gave the family time to escape the conflagration with little more than the clothes on their backs.

Benjamin and his twin sister, Natalie, went on to awaken another eight families in their Fountain Grove neighborhood in Santa Rosa, pounding on doors, yelling "Fire!" and shining lights in windows.

There were some glimmers of hope as winds weakened and firefighters made progress with blazes such as the Cascade Fire northeast of Santa Rosa, which was nearly 10,000 acres and 87 percent contained on Saturday, Cal Fire said.

Weakening winds overnight should help but high temperatures and dry conditions were expected to remain through the weekend, forecasters said.

"This is still very much in play. The danger is still very present," said Senator Kamala Harris, a Democrat from California who accompanied Brown, who urged residents to help each with disaster relief.

The year's wildfire season is one of the worst in United States history, with nearly 3.5 million hectares burned, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

Reuters - xinhua