Firefighters struggling to control raging California wildfires faced a new threat Friday as a tropical storm approached from the south with gusty winds and a surge of moisture that forecasters warned could unleash heavy rains and flash floods.
The Fairview Fire in Southern California covered about 42 square miles of Riverside County and was just 5% contained as of late Thursday. Two people died while fleeing flames on Monday and at least 11 structures have been destroyed. More than 18,000 homes were threatened by the shifting winds, officials said.
To the north in the Sierra Nevada, the Mosquito Fire burned out of control, scorching at least 20 square miles and threatening 3,600 homes in Placer and El Dorado counties, while blanketing the region in smoke.
Flames jumped the American River, burning structures in the mountain hamlet of Volcanoville and moving closer to the towns of Foresthill, home to about 1,500 people, and Georgetown, population 3,000. Fire spokesperson Chris Vestal called the fast-moving blaze an “extreme and critical fire threat.”
Stefani Lake evacuated her hilltop home near Georgetown on Thursday after sheriff's deputies knocked on doors telling people to get out. “The dogs are in the back of the car, I’ve got a room for the night, so I’m ready to leave,” Lake told the Sacramento Bee.
About 100 miles to the east, the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection warned the Reno area that air quality could be very unhealthy to hazardous due to smoke from the Mosquito Fire.
The fire’s cause remained under investigation. Pacific Gas & Electric notified the state Public Utilities Commission that the U.S. Forest Service placed caution tape around the base of a PG&E transmission pole but that no damage could be seen. PG&E said unspecified “electrical activity” occurred close in time to the report of the fire on Sept. 6.
Another blaze burned in stands of timber near the Big Bear Lake resort region in the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles. It was just 2% contained after scorching nearly 2 square miles.
California faced other weather threats as an oppressive heat wave strained the state power grid and moisture from a tropical storm threatened to unleash thunderstorms and floods.
Tropical Storm Kay, downgraded from a hurricane, was off Mexico's Baja California peninsula about 235 miles south of San Diego early Friday.
The system was expected to continue north and then veer west but still strongly impact Southern California. Gusty winds kicked up and the leading rain band moved into the state before dawn, the National Weather Service said.
Riverside County officials warned that some areas, including wildfire burn scars, could get up to 7 inches of rain, bringing threats of flash flooding and mud and debris flows.
“Based on forecasts, this appears to be a dangerous storm,” Bruce Barton, director of the Emergency Management Department, said in a statement.
Southern California Edison advised that it was considering cutting power to some areas due to the weather. Public safety power shutoffs are used to prevent fires from igniting if winds bring down or damage power lines and electrical equipment.
The changing weather was expected to finally end a scorching heat wave that has gripped the state for more than a week, but not before a final day of torrid conditions with little overnight relief. The weather service noted that the San Diego airport was 89 degrees (31.6 degrees Celsius) at 5 a.m. Friday.
Operators of California’s power grid issued another “Flex Alert” call for voluntary cuts in use of electricity between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m., the hours when demand on the system is at its peak and solar generation is dropping off.
With record demand on power supplies across the West, California snapped its record energy use around 5 p.m. Tuesday with 52,061 megawatts, far above the previous high of 50,270 megawatts set July 24, 2006.
An emergency appeal for conservation that was sent to Californians’ cellphones was credited with an immediate drop in demand on the electrical grid Tuesday evening.
Up the West Coast, forecasters predicted strong, gusting winds and low humidity across western Oregon beginning Friday and authorities warned of heightened wildfire danger after an unseasonably hot and dry late summer.
An Oregon utility said it will cut power to about 12,500 customers to the south and west of Portland in anticipation of strong, dry winds that pose a severe wildfire danger in the region. Another utility says about 30,000 additional customers could see their power cut as well in a bid to prevent fire from sagging or broken power lines.
