It’s a war-zone in Los Angeles, California as firefighters, military personnel, and national guardsmen labor nonstop to stop the four fires that have taken over California: the Thomas, Creek, Rye, and Skirball. These wildfires are pushing 110,000 Californians from their homes and consuming 116,000 acres total.
The fires have spurred the creation of a completely new fire danger color score which takes into account dead vegetation, the temperature, wind speed, direction, and historical weather information. Wildfire Thomas roughly measures the size of Denver.
With a score of 296, where 48 is considered high danger and 162 is extreme, the never before used color purple was added to their color code system. This color now goes after the red alert is too mild.
The four major wildfires are beating down on the personnel working non-stop to douse the blazes, exposing themselves to exhaustion, smoke inhalation, and airborne embers. At least 50 of the state’s National Guards that have joined the fight are evacuees themselves, with three of them having lost their homes to the blaze.
Category 1 hurricane-like winds in the mountainous areas and strong winds elsewhere are making it difficult for aerial helicopter support to reach the fires. The choppers will get grounded all Thursday after dropping about 18,000 gallons of retardant up until Wednesday.
Of the 5,000 issued firefighters, half of them have been assigned to the massive Thomas Fire alone, which has been 5% contained as of early Thursday after days of struggling. Almost 9,000 homes lack power and officials have shut down hundreds of schools in at least 15 different districts.
The Thomas fire could go down as one of the most destructive ones in history, spreading at never-before-seen rates. At one point, it would have been able to consume Central Park in under 15 minutes.
There was a brief moment of tranquility, but winds picked up again on Wednesday evening, with forecasts placing Thursday’s gusts at 80 MPH. Low humidity has transformed trees and bushes into fine tinder.
Due to these conditions, a new fire near San Diego grew to the size of around 150 acres in less than an hour, destroying two structures. Along with the other four, people are working hard in order to have it contained and put out.
This article was inspired by CNN // California fires: ‘Firefighters taking a beating’ as Santa Ana winds rage