Southern California wildfires trigger mass destruction, hurting families, economy
Thousands of people in Southern California have been forced to evacuate as wind-whipped wildfires continue to blaze across Ventura County.
Officials said the so-called "Thomas Fire," which started on Dec.
4 about 60 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, has now caused at least 50,000 people to evacuate, destroyed at least 972 stuctures and scorched roughly 242,500 acres so far.
About 18,000 additional structures are threatened by the wildfire as well, according to officials.
The cause of the fire is currently unknown.
As of Thursday morning, it was only 30 percent contained.
Authorities confirmed the death of a 70-year-old woman on Dec.
Virginia Pesola was reportedly killed in a car crash along an evacuation route on Dec.
Her death is the first connected to the six wildfires in the region.
In addition, one unnamed firefighter has reportedly been injured and three other people were burned, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Whats more, the Skirball Fire erupted on Dec.
6, burning 422 acres and threatening many of the multimillion-dollar homes in Los Angeles Bel-Air neighborhood, Reuters reported.
The Skirball fire was reportedly caused by an illegal cooking fire at an encampment in a brush area adjacent to where Sepulveda Boulevard crosses under the San Diego (405) Freeway, the Los Angeles Times reported on Tuesday.
President Trump has also tweeted about the wildfires.
Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone in the path of California's wildfires, the president tweeted.
I encourage everyone to heed the advice and orders of local and state officials.
THANK YOU to all First Responders for your incredible work!.
While wildfires in Northern California are often caused by lightning storms, about 99 percent of wildfires in Southern California are caused by humans, David Peterson, a senior research biologist with the U.S.
Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, told Fox News.
While throwing a cigarette butt out of a window is usually not enough to spark a fire, Peterson said, other simple tasks -- like mowing the lawn or parking a car on dry grass -- can.
For instance, if a rock hits a lawn mower's metal blades, that's usually enough friction to create a spark that can ultimately start a fire, Scott McLean, an information officer at the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, told Fox News.
And the heat from a car's catalytic converter, a device that's located underneath that controls its exhaust emissions, can reach up to 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit -- enough heat to create a fire if the car is parked over dry, flammable grass.
"It only takes one spark to start a fire," McLean said.
Another common source of wildfires are utility wires, Peterson said.
On a windy day, these wires can be knocked over, land on dry vegetation and ultimately ignite a fire.
Wildfires are a "perfectly natural, normal phenomenon," Peterson said.
But as urban areas continue to expand into wildland areas, the risk of wildfires will also continue to grow.
"We cannot stop them.
We can maybe do things to reduce their severity, like removing as much dead vegetation that we can, but they will continue to occur," he added.
How are wildfires stopped?.
All wildfires can bring mass destruction.
But the way each fire is stopped varies, McLean said.
In other words, "the different vegetation and different scenarios up and down the state" impact how each fire is handled.
"You don't just throw resources at a wildfire," he said.
"It's like a battle -- you have to think what will be the most effective.
Cal Fire usually depends on a mix of bulldozers, fire engines, inmate crews, and helicopters or airplanes, which disperse things like fire retardant, to stop wildfires.
Using containment lines, or large areas where a bulldozer cuts away vegetation to the point where only dirt remains, is very common, he said.
But this isn't always an accessible option.
"'What would increase the fire's speed, what would slow it down? he asked.
"Helicopter and airplanes are ineffective with winds over 30 miles an hour, and bulldozers can't always get in there.".
Its like a blowtorch. - Scott McLean.
Strong wind gusts also cause problems when putting out or controlling wildfires, he said.
Regional atmospheric patterns that develop in the fall create dry, hot wind gusts that can sometimes reach 80 miles per hour.
These winds can create so-called "spot fires" -- which is when an ember from the main wildfire gets blown into a nearby bush or field, ultimately creating a second fire.
"It's like a blowtorch," he said.
Indeed, "the thing that's really challenging here is the embers, which can float one or two miles and jump across fire breaks," Peterson said.
"That's why residential areas are so vulnerable.".
"There is so much energy and so much intensity that we cannot stop them with conventional means," Peterson said.
"In these fires, we have to allow them to burn until there's a period of high humidity and rain that helps reduce the temperature of fire enough to control it.".
But rain can also create muddy conditions for bulldozers and fire crews which impacts how they can combat the blaze.
Peterson said that firefighters work to "steer" the fire, pushing it toward the ocean, highway or a steep, rocky area where there is less vegetation.
This usually helps to stop or slow down the wildfire.
They also use aerial and satellite photos to "work with the landscape" and keep an eye on which direction the wind is coming from, he said.
As for the Thomas Fire, however, McLean said resident safety comes first -- hence the evacuation that first took place last week.
He said Cal Fire is expecting more resources to come to the Ventura County area, adding that "several strategies and tactics are in place" to stop or control it.
"It's a case by case basis, and it's extremely fluid," he said.
Why have California's wildfires been so destructive recently?.
McLean explained that California has faced a significant drought over the past five years, which created a lot of dead vegetation across the state.
Like other mediterranean climates, wintertime brings rain, which fills up water reserves and helps new vegetation grow.
California also had a record amount of rainfall in the spring of 2017.
But the summer's heat dried out that new growth, and, combined with the autumn winds, means "a lot of fuel was created for wildfires," he said.
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