• About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
Saturday, May 31, 2025
Manhattan Tribune
  • Home
  • World
  • International
  • Wall Street
  • Business
  • Health
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • World
  • International
  • Wall Street
  • Business
  • Health
No Result
View All Result
Manhattan Tribune
No Result
View All Result
Home National

Thousands evacuated in California as wildfires spread

manhattantribune.com by manhattantribune.com
5 July 2024
in National
0
Thousands evacuated in California as wildfires spread
0
SHARES
0
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter


At least 13,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes Wednesday as wildfires in Northern California continued to spread and another day of extreme heat was expected.

The Thompson Fire broke out before noon Tuesday about 70 miles (110 kilometers) north of Sacramento in and around the Butte County town of Oroville. It sent out a nearly 4.7-square-mile (12.1-square-kilometer) plume of smoke that could be seen from space Wednesday morning.

A state of emergency was declared in the city of about 20,000 people on Tuesday evening, and evacuation centers were set up.

The fire ignited blades of grass growing on the concrete edges of Lake Oroville as gusts lifted American flags lining a bend of the state’s second-largest reservoir and the nation’s tallest dam.

There were no immediate official reports of material losses.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Warnings

Warnings for critical fire weather conditions, including gusty northerly winds and low humidity levels, were in effect at the time the fire broke out.

Those warnings are expected to remain in effect until 8 p.m. Wednesday, said Garret Sjolund, Butte County unit chief for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

“The conditions in our county this summer are very different than what we have experienced over the last two summers,” the chief said during an online briefing.

“The fuels are very dense, the brush is dry. And as you can see, any wind will put out a fire very quickly.”

These conditions have led Pacific Gas & Electric to implement targeted public safety power shutoffs in parts of some Northern California counties to prevent fires from being started by downed or damaged wires.

Even higher temperatures, above 37.8 degrees Celsius, were forecast for Wednesday, the National Weather Service said. The warm conditions are expected to continue into next week.

Fireworks banned on July 4th

With July 4 in mind, officials also warned that fireworks were banned in many places, including most of Butte County.

Authorities have warned of all legal consequences for any illegal use of fireworks during the Independence Day holiday.

“Don’t be stupid and start a fire and create more problems for us,” Butte County Sheriff Kory L. Honea warned. “No one in the community wants that. And we certainly don’t want that.”

The governor’s office announced Tuesday night that federal funding has been approved to support firefighting efforts. Gov. Gavin Newsom this week established the state operations center to coordinate California’s firefighting efforts, dispatch aid and support communities as they respond to the threats of wildfires and excessive heat.

More than a dozen other fires, mostly small, were active in California, according to Cal Fire. The largest, the Basin Fire, covered nearly 22 square miles (57 square kilometers) of the Sierra National Forest in eastern Fresno County and was 26% contained.

In Southern California, Joshua Tree National Park officials on Wednesday closed Covington Flats, an area home to most of the park’s significant Joshua tree populations, due to extreme fire risk after spring rains washed away abundant grass that has now dried out. A June 2023 fire burned 1.65 square miles (4.14 square kilometers) of Joshua trees and desert tortoise habitat.

To see in video

Tags: Californiaevacuatedspreadthousandswildfires
Previous Post

Kamala Harris would do better than Joe Biden, but it’s not enough

Next Post

American woman arrested more than 20 years after newborn baby died

Next Post
American woman arrested more than 20 years after newborn baby died

American woman arrested more than 20 years after newborn baby died

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Category

  • Blog
  • Business
  • Health
  • International
  • National
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Wall Street
  • World
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact

© 2023 Manhattan Tribune -By Millennium Press

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • International
  • World
  • Business
  • Science
  • National
  • Sports

© 2023 Manhattan Tribune -By Millennium Press