California fires live updates: North Complex Fire claims 16th victim after hospitalized man dies
The Chronicle’s Fire Updates page documents the latest events in wildfires and power shut-offs across the Bay Area and the state of California.
The Chronicle’s Fire Map and Tracker provides updates on fires burning throughout California, including these huge lightning-sparked blazes in Northern California:
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Latest updates from today:
10:33 a.m. No drought let up for Northern California: Northern California experienced severe to extreme drought conditions through the summer and into October, the National Weather Service said Thursday. The drought analysis underscores “just how little rain we’ve gotten” in comparison to normal years, said meteorologist Gerry Diaz. The abnormally dry conditions are expected to continue into November, with little chance of rain on the horizon, the weather service said.
8:34 a.m. PG&E says power cuts worked: Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has identified 76 places where its de-energized power lines were damaged by winds and falling trees during this week’s offshore wind event. The utility said it believes its widespread power shutoffs prevented another round of disastrous wildfires in Northern California.
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Updates from Wednesday, Oct. 28:
8 p.m. Santa Rosa fire contained at just under a quarter acre: The vegetation fire on Round Barn Boulevard at Fountaingrove Parkway was fully contained at just under a quarter acre, fire department officials said. Fire officials said the investigation was still underway shortly before 8 p.m.
7 p.m. Santa Rosa vegetation fire ‘under control,’ officials say: The vegetation fire at Round Barn Blvd at Fountaingrove Parkway was “under control” shortly before 7 p.m., Santa Rosa fire officials said. No structures were threatened, and fire officials said the fire was “contained to the property of origin.” Firefighters are expected to stay at the scene to extinguish any hot spots. Three engines, one “Wildland Engine,” one water tender and one battalion chief responded to the scene.
6:53 p.m. Firefighters respond to vegetation fire in Santa Rosa: Santa Rosa firefighters were responding to a report of a vegetation fire at Round Barn Blvd at Fountaingrove Parkway, Fire Department officials said. Authorities asked people to avoid the area.
3:47 p.m. Another North Complex victim identified: Authorities in Butte County have identified another victim of the North Complex Fire, bringing the total number of fatalities to 16. The sheriff’s office said Win Naing, 54, of Berry Creek, was burned in the fire on Sept. 8. The injured Naing drove from his Sandy Springs Lane home and found a firefighter, who was able to have Naing transported to the hospital. He was eventually transferred to UC Davis Medical Center and placed into a medically induced coma. Naing died Oct. 21, authorities said.
3:40 p.m. PG&E finds 76 weather-related damage, hazards in power shut-off areas: Pacific Gas & Electric Co. inspection crews found at least 76 instances of weather-related damage and hazards in areas impacted by the utility’s public safety power shut-off, such as downed lines and vegetation on lines, PG&E officials said. “If PG&E had not de-energized power lines, these types of damage could have caused wildfire ignitions,” PG&E officials said.
3:35 p.m. Power restored to “essentially all customers,” PG&E says: Power was restored to “essentially all customers who can receive service” who were impacted by the public safety power shut-off that started on Sunday, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. officials said. PG&E’s interm president Michael Lewis said in a statement that, “Amid historic weather conditions and the strongest winds of the wildfire season so far, we aimed to minimize the scope and length of the event. Our most important responsibility has been to keep customers and communities safe.”
1:35 p.m. Smoke spots persist in CZU fire areas: Cal Fire tweeted Wednesday that “smokes” continue to rise from the burn area of the CZU Complex blaze, including one Wednesday on Old Haul Road in San Mateo. “No need for alarm, this will continue until we get that first big rain,” Cal Fire wrote. “Firefighters on scene working to put this out.”
12:59 p.m. Silverado firefighters remain in critical condition in Orange County: Two firefighters remained in critical condition Wednesday for burns sustained in the Silverado Fire, a Cal Fire spokesman said. The pair was injured just five hours after flames erupted in a recreation area in the foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains on Sunday. No other firefighters or civilians have been injured by the Silverado or Blue Ridge fires, Cal Fire said.
12:32 p.m. Blue Ridge Fire largest new fire in state: Orange County’s Blue Ridge Fire has nearly doubled in size since Tuesday, exploding to 14,300 acres and surpassing the nearby Silverado Fire to become the largest new fire created by Sunday’s wind event. The fast-moving fire was just 16% contained as of Wednesday morning, but Cal Fire expected containment to grow with winds diminishing through the day. Calmer winds were allowing fire crews to extend containment lines, Cal Fire said. The fire has forced about 70,000 evacuations in Yorba Linda and other areas of the Chino Hills, 40 miles southeast of Los Angeles.
11:04 a.m. Silverado Fire grows, as does containment: The Silverado Fire in Orange County grew just shy of 800 acres overnight, a slowed pace that was aided by favorable wind conditions, Cal Fire said. The 13,400-acre fire, one of two new blazes that charged over the Santa Ana Mountains on Sunday, was 25% contained as of Wednesday morning, up from 5% yesterday. Firefighters worked Wednesday to establish control lines and protect the more than 69,000 properties threatened by the flames, Cal Fire said.
10:29 a.m. La Niña promises trouble ahead: There’s no rain in the forecast, but even when winter rains do arrive,they are unlikely to bring much relief, experts say. The Pacific region is headed into a La Niña event, when cooling temperatures on the ocean’s surface translate to less precipitation. “If we had some rain soon, it would be a relief to everybody, but a La Niña winter makes it less likely to get that,”said UC Merced climate scientist LeRoy Westerling. Read the story here.
10:26 a.m. Power back for 97% of customers: With winds receded, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. rolled back the majority of its preemptive shutoffs. Power was restored to 97% of the 345,000 customers affected by the shutoffs, with the remaining 10,000 homes and businesses expected to follow Wednesday morning, the utility said.
9:32 a.m. Relief, but not really: The latest wildfire scare appears to be over as offshore winds subside in Northern California, but a lingering pattern of hot, dry weather suggests the threat of new blazes remains for firefighters and beleaguered residents. No more extreme fire weather is expected in the next couple of weeks, but there’s no rain in the forecast, and that scenario could linger throughout much of November, possibly even past Thanksgiving. Read more here.
Updates from Tuesday, Oct 27:
10:55 p.m. High wind speeds, gusts recorded in Sonoma, Napa and Contra Costa counties: Pacific Gas & Electric Co. officials shared the three “highest sustained” and maximum wind gusts recorded over the course of the public safety power shut-off. Sonoma County recorded 76 mph winds with 89 mph gusts; Napa County recorded 54 mph winds with 82 mph gusts; and Contra Costa County recorded 55 with 74 mph gusts.
10:53 p.m. PG&E finds 72 weather-related damage, hazards in power shut-off areas: Pacific Gas & Electric inspection crews found at least 72 instances of weather-related damage and hazards in areas impacted by the utility’s public safety power shut-off, such as downed lines and vegetation on lines, PG&E officials said. “If PG&E had not de-energized the lines, these types of damage could have caused wildfire ignitions,” officials said. PG&E officials said these crews patrolled more than 17,000 miles of transmission and distribution lines by using 1,800 ground patrol units, 65 helicopters and one airplane.
10:50 p.m. Power restored to 97% of impacted PG&E customers: Power was restored to 97% of Pacific Gas & Electric customers impacted by the utility’s recent public safety power shut-off that began on Sunday, PG&E officials said. Officials said 335,000 of the roughly 345,000 customers had their power restored by Tuesday night.
7 p.m. Power expected to be restored to Contra Costa County tonight: Pacific Gas & Electric Co. officials told Contra Costa County that “about 100 customers” are without power in the county, officials said. Power is expected to be restored to the remaining customer accounts tonight, county officials said.
6:35 p.m. 45,000 customers remain without power, PG&E says: Power has been restored to more than 305,000 customers who experienced a shut-off due to wildfire concerns, PG&E said Tuesday, but 45,000 still remain without power. The utility expects to have power fully restored by noon Wednesday. The utility has counted 130 incidents of damage or hazards that could have potentially led to a fire during the last few days of windy weather.
5:20 p.m. Weather service allows red flag warning to expire: The National Weather Service said despite winds subsiding in the region on Tuesday, “Conditions remain very dry, and look to stay that way for some time.” Officials asked people to “remain Fire Weather aware” even though weather service officials allowed the red flag warning to expire on Tuesday.
3:15 p.m. Silverado Fire grows, barely contained: The Silverado Fire, one of two wind-whipped blazes burning in Orange County, grew to 12,600 acres by Tuesday afternoon from just over 11,000 acres in the morning. The fire, near the historic town of Silverado in the Santa Ana Mountains, is just 5% contained, according to Cal Fire and the Orange County Fire Authority. Evacautions have been ordered in the Foothill Ranch and Baker Ranch areas. About 30 miles south, another fire, the Blue Ridge Fire has consumed 15,200 acres near Chino Hills.
3 p.m. Generator may have caused Oakland fire: An overloaded or aging generator may have caused a house fire in Montclair Tuesday morning that spread to a second home and a nearby patch of vegetation before it was brought under control, the Oakland Fire Department said. The cause is still under investigation, the department said, but early indications point to the generator. Eight people were displaced by the fire which was quickly brought under control by 30 firefighters.
2:06 p.m. Trump team said to stifle NOAA: The Trump administration has recently removed the chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the nation’s premier scientific agency, installed new political staff who have questioned accepted facts about climate change and imposed stricter controls on communications at the agency, the New York Times reports. The moves threaten to stifle a major source of objective government information about climate change.
1:08 p.m. Bay Area ‘Diablo winds’ spark hurricane references: The winds that blasted parts of the Bay Area early this week were so powerful that authorities described them as “hurricane-type” gusts. The so-called Diablo winds, offshore gusts that move northeasterly over the coast ranges and lead to extreme fire danger, didn’t break speed records, but were the most powerful this year and on par with some of California’s worst fire years. Read more about the winds and what they mean.
12:32 p.m. Red flag warnings to end Tuesday: Red flag fire warnings are expected to end at 5 p.m Tuesday in Northern California, Gov. Gavin Newsom told a news brefing. The state saw 42 new wildfires over the previous 24 hours, he said, and evacuation of 90,710 mostly Southern California residents to settings like hotels and motels. He said 14 major fires continued to rage across the state on Tuesday.
11:40 a.m. Oakland fire contained: Firefighters were snuffing hot spots that remained from a fire in the Montclair hills that burned two structures and a small area of vegetation, Oakland Fire officials said. The fire started in a home near the intersection of Crown Avenue and Merriewood Drive at about 9:40 a.m.
11:12 a.m. Breathe easy — air remains smoke-free: Winds may carry smoke from western fires to the skies above the Bay Area on Tuesday evening, but breathability in the Bay Area should be fine, weather officials said. Smoke from the Creek Fire and others burning in the Sierras will remain aloft in the atmosphere but is not expected to impact local air quality, a spokeswoman for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District said. Bay Area air quality was rated mostly good Tuesday, except in parts of the Santa Clara Valley. San Jose and Gilroy air was “moderate.”
11:01 a.m. Firefighters confine still-burning Oakland blaze: Oakland firefighters from two stations continue to fight the Montclair-area fire but have confined it to two structures, while an adjacent vegetation, about 50 feet by 100 feet, also caught fire, firefighters reported. The fire started at about 9:40 a.m. in one structure.
10:10 a.m. Oakland fire spreads to two houses: Oakland firefighters have confirmed that a structure fire at Crown Avenue and Merriewood Drive has spread to two houses and some vegetation. The fire is in the Montclair area of Oakland. It started as a structure fire at about 9:40 a.m. and sent smoke billowing skyward in a dramatic sight seen from the Bay Bridge.
9:59 a.m. Smoke rises from Montclair structure fire: Oakland firefighters were battling a structure fire Tuesday morning in a two-story building at Crown and Merriewood drives in the Montclair neighborhood. No further information was immediately available. The fire broke out around 9:40 a.m. and sent black smoke into the skies.
9:51 a.m. Winds push back Creek Fire flames: Containment on the Creek Fire increased to 63% Tuesday morning, even as sustained winds of up to 30 mph gusted across the Sierra foothills, a spokeswoman for the Sierra National Forest said. The stubborn, 374,466-acre blaze saw minimal growth overnight. Wind-swept flames filled in some patches on the northern portion of the fire near Lake Thomas Edison, but fire lines held, the spokeswoman said. Crews fought back flames on the fire’s northern edge Tuesday, as winds were expected to taper off.
9:40 a.m. Air attack on Blue Ridge Fire increases: Firefighters battled the Blue Ridge Fire in inland Orange County with a growing fleet of aircraft Tuesday. Eight air tankers, including one DC-10, were dropping retardant on the 8,000-acre fire, which was 0% contained. Officials anticipated lighter winds Wednesday that should allow more aircraft to fight the fire.