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robin thicke among those to lose homes - cnn

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California wildfires: Celebrities among those to lose homes

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The deadly wildfires ripping through California have forced hundreds of thousands of residents to evacuate, including some celebrities whose homes have been lost to the blazes.

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these are the astonishing numbers behind the california wildfires - cnn

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These are the astonishing numbers behind the California wildfires

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As if the gut-wrenching images weren't powerful enough, the staggering numbers behind the California wildfires show this recent rash of infernos is unlike any other:

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trio of wildfires wreaks havoc on california - cnn video

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Trio of wildfires wreaks havoc on California - CNN Video

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Three deadly wildfires in California have killed residents, destroyed structures and forced thousands to evacuate.

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here's how you can help those affected by the california wildfires - cnn

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Here's how you can help those affected by the California wildfires

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Three massive wildfires are burning across the state of California.

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If you go onto CNN, you can watch the fires live. This helps convince viewers/readers that CNN is as current and accurate as possible (which is a huge debate topic).

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The website and articles is easy to read, in at least size 14 font. This makes the source beneficial for a larger audience, especially readers with poor eyesight.

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Not only highlighting the destruction, CNN also covers how the smoke is affecting us. Should you be moving even if you aren't near the fires? CNN gives the answers.

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wildfire smoke and your health: do you need to worry? - cnn

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Do you need to worry about wildfire smoke?

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Hazy, smoke-filled skies from wildfires are causing poor air quality and health concerns in California.

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There are no interviews or quotes from individuals (other than celebrities) who are evacuating because of the spreading wildfires.

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CNN mentioned the two casualties in the Southern California fires but didn't provide names or any information on the individuals.

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The fires are taking out a lot of farm land. CNN doesn't have accounts of the pets or livestock stuck or evacuating the area. From other sources, it is clear that there are a number of horse and cattle ranches within the evacuation zone.

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Their headlines on their web page focused on the death toll of No. CA wildfire

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Their headlines on their web page focused on the death toll of No. CA wildfire

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The Pacific Gas & Electric utility company told a Northern California woman that power lines were causing sparks on her property the day before the deadliest blaze in the Golden State's history destroyed the nearby town of Paradise, The Associated Press reported Monday.

The so-called Camp Fire started Thursday near property belonging to Betsy Ann Cowley in the tiny town of Pulga, just east of Paradise. At least 42 people have died as a result of the wildfire and dozens more have been reported missing.

On Monday, fire investigators declared the area surrounding power lines on Cowley's property, in an oak-filled canyon, a crime scene. Security guards would not let PG&E inspectors pass.

Cowley told the AP that she was on vacation Wednesday when she got a surprise email from PG&E saying that crews needed to come to her property to work on the high-power lines. She said the utility told her "they were having problems with sparks," adding that workers visited her property but she said she wasn't there Wednesday and was not aware of their findings.

PG&E has previously disclosed that it experienced a problem on an electrical transmission line near the site of the fire minutes before the blaze broke out. In a Friday filing to California's Public Utilities Commission, it said it had detected an outage on an electrical transmission line near the site of the blaze. It said a subsequent aerial inspection detected damage to a transmission tower on the line.

The AP reported that the area where fire officials said the Camp Fire started and where PG&E says sparks were detected on Cowley's property is roughly the same.

The utility told AP it has provided an "initial electric incident report" with state regulators and will fully cooperate with any investigations.

PG&E had announced before the blaze started that it might shut down power in nine counties, including Butte County where Pulga and Paradise are, because of extreme fire danger. But it never did. On Thursday, the company said it had decided against a power cut because weather conditions did not warrant it.

This is not the first time PG&E's management practices have come under question in the drought-stricken state.

In 2014, regulators ordered the state's investor-owned utilities to set priorities for inspecting and removing dead and sick trees near their power lines, warning that "climate change has facilitated and exacerbated numerous wildfires" that have damaged and threatened their facilities.

But after a wildfire killed two people, destroyed 475 homes and scorched 70,000 acres in the Sierra Nevada foothills the following year, homeowners and their attorneys questioned whether PG&E had done enough to clear dry trees flanking its power lines. In 2016, Cal Fire ultimately found PG&E was responsible for that fire after tree maintenance by PG&E and its contractors led to a tree falling on a power line.

Investigators have determined that PG&E equipment started several of the 2017 wildfires in Northern California wine country that killed 44 people. The company says it expects to pay more than $2.5 billion.

State Sen. Jerry Hill, a Redwood City Democrat and longtime critic of the utility, called the report of troubles on PG&E's lines in the area extremely worrisome.

"If PG&E is found responsible for burning down the state again, at some point we have to say enough is enough and we have to ask should this company be allowed to do business in California?" Hill said. "These fires take a spark, and at least in the last few years fires have been caused by negligent behavior by PG&E. We need to see how we can hold them responsible, or look at alternative way of doing business."

California utility regulators are working with CalFire staff on their own, separate investigation into whether PG&E complied with state rules and regulations in areas that were torched in the fire.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Utility contacted woman about power line problems day before deadly wildfire, report says

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The Pacific Gas & Electric utility company told a Northern California woman that power lines were causing sparks on her property the day before the deadliest blaze in the Golden State's history destroyed the nearby town of Paradise, The Associated Press reported Monday.

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Thousands of firefighters battle wildfires in California

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The Camp Fire is on track to be California's deadliest wildfire; Claudia Cowan reports from Paradise, California.

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This story was not on the forefront, like CNN. It took a little searching to find.

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Like many wildfire evacuees, celebrities are returning to their California homes only to find smoke, ash and piles of charred debris.

The Woolsey Fire is one of three major wildfires ravaging the state. It has already destroyed an estimated 270 structures spanning nearly 92,000 acres as of Monday afternoon, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). At least 54 fire crews, using 450 fire engines, are working tirelessly to put out the blaze - which is now 20 percent contained.
CALIFORNIA'S 5 DEADLIEST WILDFIRES ON RECORD
Big-name celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, Alyssa Milano and Lady Gaga were among the thousands of people in Southern California who were forced to evacuate their homes last week as the Woolsey Fire spread throughout Los Angeles County. Mandatory evacuations are still in effect in several cities in the area, including Malibu, but some celebrities have already visited their incinerated properties.

Here's a look at celebrities who revealed online they were affected by the wildfires.

Robin Thicke

Robin Thicke, 41, and pregnant girlfriend April Love Geary, 23, evacuated their home Friday as a plume of smoke engulfed their neighborhood. A day later, Thicke shared a photo on Instagram revealing only a pile of debris and ash - the only thing left of their mansion.

"Contemplating next move..." Thicke captioned a photo of his 8-year-old son Julian, who was looking off into the distance.

Geary also confirmed on Instagram that their house, along with all of their belongings, were burned in the Woolsey Fire, noting that their home was "in the middle of it," Us Magazine reports.

However, Thicke confirmed his family was safe thanks to firefighters and volunteers.

"As we drove to safety, they risked their lives trying to save our homes," he wrote, in part, in a statement online. "We are safe and surrounded by friends and family."

Gerard Butler

Gerard Butler returned to his home Sunday only to find smoke, ash and piles of charred debris. Wearing a mask around his neck, the Scottish actor shared a selfie to show the devastation that the massive Woolsey Fire left behind in Southern California.

"Heartbreaking time across California," the 28-year-old star from Malibu wrote in an Instagram pos t, thanking the Los Angeles Fire Department for their "courage, spirit and sacrifice."

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West

Kardashian, 38, posted pictures and video of the fire sweeping through her Hidden Hills neighborhood as she fled the area on her private jet Thursday night, People reports.

The reality TV star said she had one hour to pack and evacuate her and Kanye West's Calabasas home.

"I heard the flames have hit our property at our home in Hidden Hills but are now more contained and have stopped at the moment," Kardashian tweeted, adding she was praying "winds are in our favor."

Scott Derrickson

"Doctor Strange" director Scott Derrickson revealed he also lost his Malibu home in the wildfire, sharing photos of his completely burned home online.

"Just a quick update to say that I'm overwhelmed by the incredible outpouring of love and support. Thank you to everyone who messaged me, and for the dozens upon dozens of you who offered us a place to stay," Derrickson tweeted. "We are blessed and grateful to be safe and so loved."

Miley Cyrus

Miley Cyrus confirmed Sunday that her "house no longer stands" in Malibu due to the devastating Woolsey Fire.

"Completely devestated [sic] by the fires affecting my community. I am one of the lucky ones. My animals and LOVE OF MY LIFE made it out safely & that's all that matters right now. My house no longer stands but the memories shared with family & friends stand strong," she tweeted. "I am grateful for all I have left. Sending so much love and gratitude to the firefighters and LA country [sic] Sheriff's department!" she tweeted, urging fans to "get involved" as firefighters and volunteers continue to risk their lives battling various blazes across the state.

Camille Grammer Meyer

The "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star Camille Grammer said her house also "couldn't be saved."

The 50-year-old reality TV star posted a photo of her mansion ablaze Sunday night."

"The courageous firefighters were able to save my cars and personal items recovered from my home. I thanked the fire chief and his team of firemen for all of their hard work," she wrote on Instagram. "Sad we lost our home but grateful that my family is safe."

Neil Young

Neil Young announced on his website that his home was destroyed in the wildfire. He also took the opportunity to blast President Trump - who previously blamed California's " gross mismanagement of the forests " for the cause of the fire - calling him an "unfit leader."

"California is vulnerable - not because of poor forest management, as DT (our so-called president) would have us think," Young wrote, in part, according to The Hollywood Reporter. "As a matter of fact this is not a forest fire that rages on as I write this. We are vulnerable because of Climate Change; the extreme weather events and our extended drought is part of it... Our temperatures are higher than ever here in our hottest summer on record. That has not helped. DT seems to be the Denier. (I'm holding back and not using the word liar just because it rhymes with denier.) It really is time for a reckoning with this unfit leader. Maybe our new Congress can help. I sure hope so."

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Celebrity homes burned in California wildfires: Kim Kardashian, Gerard Butler and others impacted

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Like many wildfire evacuees, celebrities are returning to their California homes only to find smoke, ash and piles of charred debris. The Woolsey Fire is one of three major wildfires ravaging the state. It has already destroyed an estimated 270 structures spanning nearly 92,000 acres as of Monday afternoon, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).

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Interestingly, the only article about health issues from fire that I could find was about LeBron James being affected on the basketball court.

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Smoke generated from the deadly Camp Fire in Northern California seeped into the home of the Sacramento Kings on Saturday which ended up impacting some players on the court -- including LeBron James.

The Los Angeles Lakers were able to get to .500 for the first time this season after beating the Sacramento Kings, 101-86, but it wasn't without some difficulties.

"I had a slight headache before the game," James said. "I can't pinpoint any other reason why it was going on besides the smoke. But it went away after the game started."

James scored 25 points for the Lakers and said he was looking forward to some "good rest" after the game ended, according to Reuters.

He wasn't the only person who had issues with the smoke.
CALIFORNIA CAMP FIRE JOINS LIST OF MOST DESTRUCTIVE BLAZES IN THE STATE
"My stomach was hurtin' like I was hungry or something," said teammate JaVale McGee, who suffers from asthma. "But it was from the smoke for sure, so...but we still won, though, so it's all good."

ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk posted photos to Twitter inside the arena, noting an arena staff member said the haze was "not normal or from the arena lighting"

Lakers coach Luke Walton shortened his player's stints on the court as well due to the smoke inside the area.

But even with the haze, the Lakers were able to hold the Kings to their lowest scoring total of the season. It was only the second time Sacramento has been held below 100 points this season, and it marked the first time Los Angeles had held an opponent below 100.
CALIFORNIA POWER COMPANIES REPORTED OUTAGES MINUTES BEFORE DEADLY WILDFIRE OUTBREAK
The Camp Fire has been blamed for at least 29 deaths, and another 228 people are unaccounted for.

Ten search teams were working in the town of Paradise, which was largely incinerated last week, and in surrounding communities in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Authorities called in a DNA lab and teams of anthropologists to help identify victims.

Statewide, 150,000 remained displaced as more than 8,000 fire crews battled wildfires that have scorched 400 square miles, with out-of-state crews continuing to arrive. Fire officials are warning that whipping winds and tinder-dry conditions threaten more areas through the rest of the week.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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LeBron James says smoke from California wildfire affected him during game in Sacramento

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Smoke generated from the deadly Camp Fire in Northern California seeped into the home of the Sacramento Kings on Saturday which ended up impacting some players on the court -- including LeBron James. The Los Angeles Lakers were able to get to .500 for the first time this season after beating the Sacramento Kings, 101-86, but it wasn't without some difficulties.

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BBC focusing on Camp Fire death toll as highest in California fire history.

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Strong winds have been fuelling California's deadly fires as search-and-rescue teams begin the grim task of searching for bodies among the ashes.

Winds of up to 40mph (64km/h) are expected throughout Tuesday in the state's south, where the Woolsey Fire is threatening some 57,000 homes.

Firefighters in the north are still battling the Camp Fire, which has left at least 42 people dead.

Meanwhile, two new fires began in the south on Monday.

They started within minutes of each other. The smaller of the two has since been put out, news agency Reuters reports.

In pictures: Wildfire rages in Malibu

Watch: Aerial footage shows devastation

'Three minutes separated me from death'

In the north, the Camp Fire, which has destroyed almost 7,200 homes, surpassed the 1933 Griffith Park disaster to become the deadliest in California's history after 13 more bodies were found, bringing the total killed to 42. The earlier tragedy left 31 dead.

Many more people are said to be unaccounted for, with coroner-led search teams preparing to comb the largely incinerated town of Paradise on Tuesday.

Three portable morgue, as well as specialist dog units, forensic anthropologists and a "disaster mortuary" have been requested to help with the operation, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea told reporters on Monday.

The Woolsey Fire has so far killed two people as it damaged beach resorts including Malibu, a favourite with the rich and famous.

More than 300,000 locals have been forced to flee their homes across California.

US President Donald Trump has declared a "major disaster" in the state, making federal aid available to affected residents.

What's the latest on the Camp Fire?

Paradise and its surrounding areas bore the brunt of the Camp Fire - the largest blaze - which started in a nearby forest on Thursday.

Some bodies were found in gutted cars that were overrun by the fast-moving fire, as residents scrambled to evacuate overnight.

Sorrell Bobrink, a Paradise resident who managed to drive away with her child, told BBC World Service radio she was first woken up and alerted by a phone call from a friend.

She described the scene as "exactly like any apocalyptic movie I have ever seen" and said she did not know if she was driving towards death or out of harm's way as the sky blackened.

"I had to drive through the fire - it was awful. It was probably the most awful experience I will have in my life," she told the Newsday programme.

"It was traumatising, we will be traumatised for a long time. My whole community was traumatised - I can't watch the videos anymore because I actually went through it."

Animals caught in wildfire destruction

Watch: Long battle against California wildfires

Watch: Why California wildfires are so deadly

Many of the victims are believed to have been elderly residents or people with mobility issues who would find evacuating more difficult.

Forensic experts are stepping up their search in the ruins of Paradise, but officials warn that finding the bodies could take weeks.

Dogs are being brought in by local police to try and locate the dead, and two mobile army morgues will be used to help identify them.

The fire has burned more than 111,000 acres (45,000 hectares) and is nearly 25% contained, fire officials said.

What about further south?

The separate Woosley Blaze started on Thursday near Thousand Oaks, about 40 miles (64km) north-west of central Los Angeles.

It has consumed at least 85,500 acres and destroyed at least 177 buildings, officials said. It is only 10% contained. The smaller Hill Fire, nearby, has scorched 4,530 acres and is 75% contained.

Luxury homes in Malibu and other beach communities are among the properties destroyed.

The nearby city of Calabasas, home to well-known celebrities, remains under a mandatory evacuation order.

Celebrity homes destroyed by wildfires

Kim K dedicates award to firefighters

Why are the fires so bad?

Historically, California's "wildfire season" started in summer and ran into early autumn, but experts have warned that the risk is now year-round.

The California Public Utilities Commission is investigating what sparked the latest blazes - amid reports electrical companies may have suffered malfunctions near the sources shortly before the fires began.

Low humidity, warm Santa Ana winds, and dry ground after a rain-free month have produced a prime fire-spreading environment.

The state's 40-million-strong population also helps explain the fires' deadliness. That number is almost double what it was in the 1970s, and people are living closer to at-risk forest areas.

And then there's climate change. Recent years have produced record-breaking temperatures, earlier springs, and less reliable rainfall.

The experts who start fires to study them

Why can't California control its wildfires?

Citing the role of a warming climate, California Governor Jerry Brown declared: "This is not the new normal, this is the new abnormal."

Thousands of firefighters, some from across the US, have been brought in to help battle the blazes.
Have you been affected by the wildfires? If it is safe to do so please get in touch. Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk .
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Winds whip California's deadliest wildfire

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Strong winds have been fuelling California's deadly fires as search-and-rescue teams begin the grim task of searching for bodies among the ashes. Winds of up to 40mph (64km/h) are expected throughout Tuesday in the state's south, where the Woolsey Fire is threatening some 57,000 homes.

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Animals caught in the fires.

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As deadly wildfires burn across California, communities are counting the toll in not just human losses, but in wildlife and household pets too.
The National Fire Protection Association recommends that animal owners in at-risk areas have evacuation plans for animals in place, but because of how urgent some orders were, many were unable to return home for their pets and other animals.

California wildfires reach grim milestone

Residents have been using social media to spread images of their lost animals around the internet.

Dedicated accounts, groups and hashtags have also been set up by online volunteers to help reunite pets with their owners.

As tens of thousands of acres burn cross the state, images have emerged of animals being evacuated.

On Friday, some residents living close to the Woolsey Fire ravaging the Malibu area took their large animals down to a local beach for protection.

Local fire officials opened up Zuma Beach as an evacuation point for large animals, leading to surreal scenes on the usual spot for tourists.

California wildfires in pictures

How to fight a wildfire

Wally Skahlij, a photographer for the Los Angeles Times, took a set of striking photographs on the beach, including one of an owl resting in the sand as the fire engulfed the skyline.

Actress Alyssa Milano appealed to her Twitter followers on Friday to try and get help for her five horses to safety.

She was among the hundreds of thousands of California residents who have had to evacuate their homes across the state.

The wildfire season usually starts in summer and runs into early autumn there, but recent low humidity, dry conditions and warm fast-moving winds have created ideal conditions for blazes to spread.

In Paradise, a town north of Sacramento, thousands of buildings have been destroyed and at least 29 people are known to have died, with more than 200 others still unaccounted for.

Despite the widespread destruction, some pets have been recovered there alive, giving hope to survivors who are still missing theirs.

The effort is complicated because often animals caught up in fires flee or hide, especially when injured.

Pets lost in fires earlier this year are still being reunited with owners, as volunteers use elaborate baiting techniques to try and recapture the animals.

Around Butte County where the November fires have been the most deadly, emergency workers and volunteers, including the North Valley Animal Disaster Group, have been going into the affected areas to give emergency supplies to larger farm animals that had to be been left behind.

Local animal services across California have urged people who are able to adopt or foster pets from shelters to do so in order to make room for those being brought in on an emergency basis.

Some that have been rescued have been found with extensive burns, complicating reunification efforts.

Kim K dedicates award to firefighters

Gerard Butler's home destroyed in wildfire

Celebrity homes destroyed by fires

Several online fundraising appeals have been set up to pay veterinary bills for animals that have been found with burn injuries.

In some places, veterinarians have been working in groups to try and treat injured and lost animals for free.

People who are missing their animals have been advised to check designated local rescue points - including airports and even casinos - where animals are being taken on an emergency basis.

All images copyright.

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The animals caught in wildfire destruction

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As deadly wildfires burn across California, communities are counting the toll in not just human losses, but in wildlife and household pets too. The National Fire Protection Association recommends that animal owners in at-risk areas have evacuation plans for animals in place, but because of how urgent some orders were, many were unable to return home for their pets and other animals.

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Explaining myths about wildfires

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Wildfires are currently raging through California, with thousands of people forced to flee their homes and dozens of residents killed. Earlier this year, a series of wildfires in the Greek coast killed 99 people in the deadliest wildfire worldwide since 2009. In July 2018, smoke from fires in Russia reached as far as North America. This is a new normal.

But as fires multiply around the world, so do questions about them - and misconceptions. Here are five common myths about wildfires - some of which can undermine our success in fighting them.

You might also like:
* The quest to predict - and stop - the spread of wildfires
* Ten simple ways to act on climate change
* The jaw-dropping missions of fire-fighting pilots
Myth #1: Regularly logging forests prevents wildfires
A common assumption is that logging, or removing some trees, would prevent fires. In fact, many forest experts say that logging is ineffective. This is because the tree remnants left over after logging, such as stumps and branches, provide a super-fuel for fire - one that is even drier (and more flammable) in the absence of a forest canopy.

There is plenty of science backing these claims. For instance, a recent study showed that burn severity tended to be higher in areas with higher levels of management. Scholars working on wildfire conservation have also rebuked arguments that logging protects endangered species from forest fires, a common argument in favour of tree removal; in fact, it seems that animals like the iconic spotted owl still benefit from a burned-out forest and that removing the trees could hurt them. Even post-fire logging is counterproductive and can lead to more fires.

A different practice is clearing entire areas of a forest, a common approach used by firefighters to prevent the fire from spreading.
Myth #2: There is nothing you can do to protect your property
Wildfires are powerful and threatening, but households can reduce their risk by taking action at home. The building itself should be the first concern. Houses with fire-resistant roofs stand a better chance of surviving a blaze. Owners also should remove combustible materials from around the structure, including leaves in gutters and rooflines.

Families can create a 'defensible zone' between their homes and their surrounding wilderness. This means clearing anything that could catch fire, like brush, dried leaves and wood piles within 30 feet (9m) of structures. When they are 30-100 feet (9-30m) away from homes, trees should have large distances between canopies - 12 feet (3.6m) of space between tops that are between 30-60ft (9-18m) from a home, and 6 feet (1.8m) of space for tops that are 60 feet (18m) away. This interrupts the fire's path and slows its pace.
Myth #3: Forest fires are an inevitable fact of nature
While wildfires are a natural phenomenon, the extent and intensity to which they're happening now are not - and one of the effects of climate change.

We saw fewer fires between 1930 and 1980, a period that coincided with cooler and moister conditions. But as the climate has become hotter and drier in the last four decades, the number of fires have increased. In only two years between 1980 and 1999 did wildfires burn more than 6 million acres (2.4m hectares) of US wilderness. But between 2000 and 2017, there were 10 years with burnt acreage above that threshold.

Globally, the length of the wildfire season increased by nearly 19% between 1978 and 2013.

While you can't point to climate change as causing any particular fire on its own, it does influence factors that help spark and spread fires, like major drought, high temperatures, low humidity and high winds. As a result, scientists say that the increase of wildfires around the world, from Siberia to Portugal, is linked to climate change.
Myth #4: All wildfires are bad and must be quenched immediately
Forest fires have played a crucial role in ecosystems for millennia and life has evolved beside them: some beetles breed only in the heat of fires, pine cones germinate with periodical fires and cleared space from burnt trees allows for new plants to spring.

In fact, the benefits that many people now hope to achieve with logging or forest management - the clearing of dense woods - is naturally done by forest fires. The flames periodically consume smaller branches and trees, culling the forest which otherwise would otherwise serve as fuel.

By fighting wildfires relentlessly during the past century, we have prevented this 'cleansing': less than 1% of US fires are allowed to burn. This strategy works better when there are fewer wildfires - but in our current extreme conditions, pumping more money to fighting fires might have a diminishing rate of returns.
Myth #5: It is possible to eradicate (or control) all forest fires
As we have already seen, climate change, alongside other factors such as the spread of human settlements, is expected to increase wildfires, particularly in mid-to-high latitudes, in the coming decades. The tropics might see a decrease in fires, which might come as a relief for countries nearer the equator. But the rest of the globe would have to deal with an increasing number of them.

Some fires, like California's Camp Fire, are too fast to be managed. Evacuation and relocation are the only reasonable responses. This leads to the question of whether communities like Paradise, which was destroyed almost entirely by the fire, should stay where they are - or move elsewhere.

Some experts are calling for a return to traditional indigenous fire knowledge to deal with the flames. As efforts to cull fires seem insufficient - and as fires are likely to only get worse - those are questions policymakers must face.

--
Diego Arguedas Ortiz is a science and climate change reporter for BBC Future. He is @arguedasortiz on Twitter.
If you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called "If You Only Read 6 Things This Week". A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Culture, Capital, and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday.

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Wildfires are currently raging through California, with thousands of people forced to flee their homes and dozens of residents killed. Earlier this year, a series of wildfires in the Greek coast killed 99 people in the deadliest wildfire worldwide since 2009. In July 2018, smoke from fires in Russia reached as far as North America.

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Dawn May

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NPR mainly informs about the progress of the firefighters and  the current status of the fires.  

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NPR mainly informs about the progress of the firefighters and  the current status of the fires.  

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This was mainly facts about acreage burned, evacuation orders, structures burned and threatened, and current rescue efforts. They published some excellent photographs from sources like Associated Press and Twitter. The site seems to avoid the controversies seen on the major networks and thus can seem slightly in favor of the government organizations involved in the fires.

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California firefighters are making progress against several large fires, and they're holding the line against the deadliest fire in state history - but officials are still tallying the losses, and emergency crews are trying to protect people and property from several major fires in the state.

The Camp fire, the deadliest blaze in state history, has killed at least 48 people and ravaged complete neighborhoods in Paradise and other towns. To the south, a new wildfire blossomed overnight, as the Sierra fire forced fire crews to scramble amid strong Santa Ana winds.

Because of the severity of the Camp fire, Cal Fire has produced an online structure status map of Paradise and surrounding areas, to help people learn the state of their homes without entering areas that are still active fire zones.

Here's where the largest blazes stand on Wednesday, from Cal Fire's updates:

Camp fire: There are around 100 names on the missing persons list that the Butte County Sheriff's Office posted late Wednesday morning, local time. The agency is asking the public to help identify anyone who might have escaped the fire.

The fire that erupted last Thursday near Jarbo Gap in Butte County has burned 135,000 acres and is 35 percent contained - the same amount as yesterday. It has also destroyed 7,600 residences and 260 commercial buildings. Evacuation orders remain in place for a large area east of Chico.

"Last night firefighters continued to hold established containment lines," Cal Fire says. "Today firefighters will provide structure defense and continue to strengthen and improve existing control lines."

From member station KQED, Alex Emslie reports for NPR's Newscast unit:

"Some 52,000 people have been forced from their homes. Efforts to find and identify the dead are expected to get a boost soon from 100 additional National Guard troops - and coroners are rolling out a rapid DNA identification system."

The fire destroyed whole blocks of Paradise, leaving behind charred chimneys and walls, standing among smoldering ashes. As NPR's Kirk Siegler reports via Twitter, "the scale of this one is pretty staggering."

Woolsey fire: The blaze that hit parts of Ventura and Los Angeles counties is now at 97,620 acres and is 47 percent contained, Cal Fire says. It's estimated to have destroyed 483 structures.

The Woolsey fire is blamed for killing at least two people - and the death toll could rise, with the L.A. County Sheriff's Department saying detectives are looking into a possible third fire-related death, in Agoura Hills.

"The Woolsey Fire is now one of the largest on record to burn in Los Angeles County," reports member station KPCC. The station's news partner, LAist, says some residents will be given the OK to see their homes, reporting, " The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department announced repopulation for several new areas at 3 p.m., including portions of Calabasas, Westlake Village, Agoura Hills and Malibu."

Cal Fire predicts it will be under full containment by Sunday, Nov. 18. On Wednesday, the agency said, "Santa Ana winds will diminish through the day with weak onshore winds possible this afternoon along the coast. Firefighting resources will pursue opportunities to build and improve direct line to minimize further perimeter growth and support containment objectives."

With road closures making it hard to get supplies into Malibu, a group of volunteers organized themselves to "bring supplies from a boat coming from Redondo beach, with donations for residents of Malibu," The Los Angeles Times reported on Tuesday.

Hill fire: The blaze, one of two to strike in Ventura County after last week's mass shootings, is now 94 percent contained. Its size is listed at 4,531 acres.

"Fire crews continue to mop up and patrol the fire perimeter," Cal Fire says.

Officials believe the fire, located west of the Woolsey wildfire, will be completely contained on Thursday.

Sierra fire: The new fire that popped up Wednesday night showed how quickly wildfires can develop when they're driven by offshore winds.

Video footage released by the San Bernardino County Fire District showed the powerful Santa Ana winds whipping the blaze as a bulldozer was deployed to help limit the fire's spread.

Despite the ferocity of the fire, it was not deemed to be a threat to residents, largely because of its direction; officials said an evacuation was not needed.
Responses to the Fires, and the Aftermath
KQED has published a list of ways the public can help people who have lost their homes or property in the wildfires, from volunteering to donating money or materials.

Capitol Public Radio in Sacramento has also created a lis t of organizations and relief groups that are working to help victims of the destructive wildfires.

After reports emerged that two electric utilities had reported problems in the locations of the Camp and Woolsey fires - and minutes before the blazes started - a lawsuit has accused Pacific Gas & Electric of negligence, KQED reports.

The Camp fire is expected to exacerbate housing problems in Butte County, where the flames decimated the housing stock.

"There is no housing for them in the county or in the neighborhood or even in California," says Ed Mayer, director of the county's housing authority, in a report by NPR's Eric Westervelt. "So we really have no capacity to absorb a disaster like this."

Reporting from Chico, Eric adds, "Mayer says with a near zero vacancy rate and a housing crisis even before the fire, some displaced people may be forced to leave the state or risk homelessness.

As people have fled the area around Chico and Butte County, volunteers and aid groups have also worked to help animals survive the fires. This week, the North Valley Animal Disaster Group said it was looking after more than 1,450 animals. The list ranges from more than 440 cats and 340 dogs to 130 horses, two cows and an alpaca.

Here's the current map of fires in California, from Cal Fires:

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Firefighters Corral Big California Fires, But Challenges Remain

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California firefighters are making progress against several large fires, and they're holding the line against the deadliest fire in state history - but officials are still tallying the losses, and emergency crews are trying to protect people and property from several major fires in the state.

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This first link is a page completely dedicated to stories from and about the wildfires. From this page, there are many links to many different stories. I won’t cover all of them, only a few.

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Deadly California wildfires: 3 blazes destroying homes and forcing massive evacuations

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When I first read this headline, I thought, ‘If it bleeds, it leads’ and it happens to be the first article you see. Many statistics and historical facts.

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The remains of six more victims in a deadly Northern California wildfire were found by searchers on Tuesday, bringing the death toll in the Camp Fire to 48, the sheriff said.

All six sets of remains were found in homes in the area of Paradise, a town devastated by the Camp Fire which broke out Thursday morning and is considered to be the most destructive and deadliest fire in recorded California history.

Butte County Sheriff-Coroner Kory L. Honea said that he's requested 100 National Guard troops to work in conjunction with those searching for human remains in the fire, which as of Tuesday night has burned around 130,000 acres and was 35 percent contained.

"We want to be able to cover as much ground as quickly as we possibly can," Honea said, adding that even after a search is done and people are allowed to return to the community, it's possible more remains may be found.

"I know that that's a very difficult thing to think about, but that's the difficult situation that we find ourselves in today," he said.

The Camp Fire is one of two deadly wildfires burning at opposite ends of California.

In Southern California near Los Angeles, the Woolsey Fire that broke out Thursday afternoon has killed two people near Malibu, burned more than 97,100 acres - an area around the size of the city of Denver - and destroyed an estimated at least 435 homes and other structures. A fire official said the number of destroyed structures is expected to rise significantly as assessments are done. The fire was 40 percent contained Tuesday night.

The Camp Fire broke out at around 6:33 a.m. on Thursday in Butte County, north of Sacramento, according to officials. An estimated 7,600 single-family homes and 260 commercial structures have been destroyed, and the town of Paradise, population around 26,000, was devastated by the blaze.

The Camp Fire is the deadliest in state history, surpassing the 1933 Griffith Park Fire that killed 29 people, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

As the fire overtook Paradise as people were evacuating Thursday, Cal Fire Division Chief David Hawks, who is also the fire chief for the town, saw one of two ambulances transporting patients from a hospital to safety catch fire, and directed everyone inside that vehicle and in another ambulance to a cul-de-sac.

With embers raining down in what Hawks likened to snowflakes in a blizzard, they sought shelter in a house and prepared to ride it out. One of the four paramedics was able to get in the home's garage through a doggie door and unlock the door, and the four patients were moved inside, he said. There were also three nurses.

"What I told everyone: 'We're going to ride the fire out here and we need to protect this home,' Hawks said Tuesday. "You know, this is our Fort Knox, basically."

Paramedics began clearing pine needles from around the home and from the gutter of the roof. If the house ended up catching fire, Hawk said they were prepared to enter the cul-de-sac which was an open area to ride out the fire.

"A couple of them were on phones with family members, talking with family members and what have you. And basically they asked me if I thought they were going to die here, or one of them did," Hawks recalled.

"And I told them, I don't believe that we are going to die here," he said. "This is a very serious situation but I think if we follow my direction, we'll ride the fire out here."

They were joined by two members of search and rescue teams, who also took shelter in the house. The road eventually cleared enough for those seeking shelter to make it back to Feather River Hospital, which although was near flames also had a large parking lot which would have been a better place to shelter until they could escape the town.

Hawks, who joined Cal Fire right out of high school in 1984, said he doesn't consider his actions exceptional.

"I was doing my job," he said. "There was a lot of lives saved by a lot of people that day - not only myself, but by a lot of people."

Three of the dead in the Camp Fire have been identified and the next of kin notified, the Butte County Sheriff's Department said. They are: Ernest Foss, 65, of Paradise; Jesus Fernandez, 48, of Concow; and Carl Wiley, 77, of Magalia.

There have also been several arrests for suspected looting in the evacuation zone, Honea said.

Two men were arrested on Monday inside a home in Butte Creek Canyon, one of whom had a handgun registered to a home under evacuation in Paradise; two men were arrested Tuesday in an area under evacuation and they allegedly had a laptop that didn't belong to them; and a man and a woman were arrested in a stolen motorhome in Chico on Tuesday, the sheriff's office said.

While the Woolsey Fire is still burning, officials said the tide is turning.

"The risk has diminished significantly," Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl Osby told reporters midday in Thousand Oaks. "When you think about this fire several days ago, it burned from Bell Canyon to the ocean which is approximately 30 miles. So our firefighters have gotten the upper hand."

Another fire burning in Southern California, the Hill Fire in Ventura County, was 90 percent contained Tuesday after burning more than 4,500 acres since it broke out on Thursday, according to Cal Fire. Two structures were destroyed and two others were damaged, the agency said.

David K. Li contributed.

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Death toll in Northern California wildfire climbs to 48, as grim search continues

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The remains of six more victims in a deadly Northern California wildfire were found by searchers on Tuesday, bringing the death toll in the Camp Fire to 48, the sheriff said.

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I thought this article was interesting. It’s intended to give the reader some perspective to size who may have not visited the area or maybe have but still do not comprehend the size of the fires.

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I thought this article title was interesting because the title makes it sound like only activists care about the environment and the people living in it. I’m not an activist, but I can about that stuff. Then you open the link and the title of the article changes to something about the there being no harm from the toxins. Weird. I don’t know why it’s weird, it’s just odd.

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The wildfire raging in Southern California scorched portions of a contaminated industrial research site where a partial nuclear meltdown once occurred, but no toxic chemicals are believed to have been released into the air, public health officials said.

Preliminary testing over the weekend at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in Ventura County found "no discernible level of radiation in the tested area," the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said Tuesday.

Public health officials from multiple agencies collected air samples and used radiation detection units around the facility, which is on 2,850-acres of rugged plateau southeast of Simi Valley.

The state Department of Toxic Substances Control, which is overseeing cleanup of the site, also said that "previously handled radioactive and hazardous materials were not affected by the fire."

The Woolsey Fire, which broke out last Thursday near the field lab, has burned more than 97,000 acres in Los Angeles and Ventura counties and led to at least two deaths.

The Santa Susana site has been a source of contention in the surrounding communities in recent decades following its use as a rocket testing and research lab under the former firm Rocketdyne.

There were nuclear reactor accidents and, in 1959, a partial nuclear meltdown. While the site continued to be used, many of its buildings were later decommissioned as widespread chemical and radioactive contamination was discovered. In 1996, Boeing, which had acquired Rocketdyne, became a primary owner of the site.

Activists have been frustrated by a laggard remediation process, which would include demolishing inactive and contaminated buildings, the Department of Energy has said.

Marie Mason, a Simi Valley resident and co-founder of the Rocketdyne Cleanup Coalition, is among the activists concerned about potential exposure to hazardous toxins and calling for an independent analysis of air testing.

"We're outraged that after all these years, decades of foot-dragging by DTSC ... may have resulted in even more toxic exposures," Mason said in a statement. "We've always worried about a fire at SSFL, and now a massive wildfire has started on site itself. SSFL could have and should have been cleaned up a long time ago."

Robert Dodge, a physician and president of Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles, which advocates for eliminating nuclear threats to health, said no one can dispute the site is riddled with toxic materials.

"When it burns and becomes airborne in smoke and ash, there is real possibility of heightened exposure for area residents," he said in a statement.

The cause of the Woolsey Fire - one of three major wildfires that have bedeviled fire crews across California this month - remains under investigation. State utility officials said they must investigate whether a Southern California Edison substation was an ignition point for the blaze.

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Activists concerned after wildfire ripped through nuclear research site

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The wildfire raging in Southern California scorched portions of a contaminated industrial research site where a partial nuclear meltdown once occurred, but no toxic chemicals are believed to have been released into the air, public health officials said.

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This article really hits the human element but not as a statistic. It gets personal with first person accounts of escape. A tough read.

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LOS ANGELES - Belated warnings from public officials and the reluctance of residents who had survived previous fires to leave home were among the factors that contributed to the delayed and chaotic evacuation in what has become the deadliest wildfire in California history, survivors said.

Some of those who escaped from the massive Camp Fire last week questioned why Butte County leaders did not do more to warn residents of Paradise and neighboring mountain communities as a fire whipped with fearsome speed through the mountainous region north of Sacramento.

Most of the attention following the wildfire has focused on the search for dozens of people still missing and the possibility that power equipment belonging to the electric utility PG&E may have sparked the fire. But a few residents have begun to ask why notice did not get out to more people about the fire, which has killed 48 and destroyed an estimated 7,600 single-family homes, both records for California.

"They definitely didn't do enough," said Christina Taft, whose 67-year-old mother has been missing since the fire. "She didn't expect it to be that bad. She expected someone would be calling, or something, if it got bad. But they didn't."

"They were negligent. They just let them go," said Taft, who has had no word from her mother, Victoria, since last Thursday. "There is a reason all these people are dead."

A resident of Magalia, about 8 miles west of the fire's starting point, confronted Butte County Sheriff Kory L. Honea and other officials Monday about why he and his neighbors could not find any information about the dangerous blaze, a full three hours after fire crews first responded to the ignition point, near Highway 70 in Plumas National Forest.

"We use the emergency broadcast system for a tornado warning. But this is a deadly fire," said the man, who was not identified by county officials whom he addressed at the meeting in Oroville. "I don't remember any alert coming over my radio. ... People in the community are freaking out, you need to get some information up here."

The Butte County sheriff's office said it did deliver notifications about the fire danger: 5,227 by email, 25,643 via phone (to both land lines and cellular devices) and 5,445 by text message.

"I wish we had the opportunity to get more alerts out, more of a warning out, but unfortunately we didn't," Sheriff Honea told the public meeting on Monday.

At a news conference Tuesday evening, Honea stressed that the fire's unusually swift progress south and west into Magalia, Paradise and other mountain communities made timely notification difficult.

"You have to keep in mind that this was an extraordinarily chaotic and rapidly moving situation. The fire started in a remote area. It takes awhile for our fire resources to get there and from that point, trying to determine the path of travel and whether or not that's going to effect populated areas, that takes time," Honea said.

He added that it's possible some people were warned and didn't immediately act to get out of harm's way. "We were trying to move tens of thousands of people out of an area very rapidly with the fire coming very rapidly. And no matter what your plan is to do that, no plan will ever work 100 percent when you are dealing with that much chaos."

Honea, who took office four years ago, also suggested that emergency officials have to be concerned not to over-burden people with excessive or unneeded evacuation orders. He said the region had already lived through evacuations from earlier fires and last year's threatened collapse of the Oroville Dam, which caused nearly 200,000 people to flee.

"So that takes a toll on people," Honea said. "I don't want to ever get into situation where people begin to stop paying attention because they feel like we are ordering evacuations for no cause or for very little cause."

Like other counties, Butte has a system that allows residents to sign up for "reverse 911" telephone alerts in times of emergency.

Savannah Rauscher told The Sacramento Bee that by the time she got the 911 alert at 8:30 a.m., embers and dust were already flying around her family's Edgewood Lane home.

"We saw a wall of fire," she told the newspaper. "Trees were glowing 50 yards away and it was probably moving like 10 yards every couple minutes. ... I had no idea it could be that fast."

Rausher and her husband soon found themselves in a long and unmoving line of cars. Her husband pulled into what normally would have been the oncoming traffic lane to escape, saying, "We're not going to die like this." Rausher said she waved other cars to follow along to safety.

High on the ridges above the Sacramento Valley, many homes do not have easy cellphone service, or access to WiFi. It's unknown how much that isolation may have prevented residents from getting word of the fire.

Risa Johnson, a reporter for The Chico Enterprise-Record, said people in her newsroom also wondered how many residents might not sign up for the reverse 911 warnings because of concern about giving the government their personal information. The Sierra Nevada foothills are home to some who moved there precisely because they wanted to get away from intrusion by public officials.

But even signing up for the warnings was no guarantee they came through. Johnson said her aunt, Peg, applied for the 911 alerts, but received no notice at her Paradise home of the Camp Fire. "She said she didn't get anything," Johnson said. "It was friends and family calling, or neighbors coming by. That's how many people found out."

Taft said she argued fiercely with her mother for more than an hour, trying to convince her to flee. But there were no sheriff's deputies demanding the neighborhood evacuate. Fire crews, busy on the front lines of the blaze, did not stop by. No one she talked to in her neighborhood was ordered out.

She said that when she reluctantly left her mother, the elder Taft was on the phone, talking to another elderly woman, both of them persuaded this fire would pass by, like all the others.

"Seniors expect an authority to tell them to leave," said Christina Taft, a business student at California State University, Chico. "And they did not get the authorities to tell them this time."

Sheriff Honea was greeted warmly by much of the crowd at Monday's public hearing. And some fire victims said it was wrong to blame the government for the fire's toll.

"This was an act of God, if you asked me," said Bill Husa, 55, a long-time photographer for the Chico Enterprise Record. "None of these officials have control over 50-mile-an-hour winds and a raging wildland fire. There is no way they had time to get everyone notified."

Questions about emergency notifications are becoming a more routine reality for emergency management officials nationwide, given storms, floods and wildfires made more potent as a result of global warming, said Rob Lewin, director of the Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management.

"Nationwide we are all feeling the trauma of climate change and the number of disasters we are facing over and over again," said Lewin. "We have to build an emergency management system that is ready to handle the new situation we are dealing with."

After firestorms last year devastated broad swaths of Sonoma and Napa counties and blackened a record number of acres in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, many people reported they did not receive emergency warnings.

Lewin said his county has beefed up its notification system as a result - sending word of evacuations over land lines, cellphones, social media and traditional news outlets. Still, the system is not foolproof. Just 12 percent of the county's residents have signed up to receive so-called reverse 911 notifications in emergencies, despite last year's fires and a subsequent debris flow that killed 21 people. Even a system designed to push warnings to all cellphones, tested recently by the Trump administration, did not reach everyone.

Lewin said he had two cellphones side by side during that test, both serviced by the same phone company, and only one received the emergency alert. "And we don't know the reason why," he said.

An exacerbating factor in Butte County may have been the advanced age of many residents. Paradise and its environs are popular with retirees, some of whom are reluctant to leave home because of mobility problems. Feather River Hospital had to rely on private cars and trucks to get out many of its patients, just ahead of the flames.

Courtney Wright, a medical assistant, said her 54-year-old father was not compelled to leave his Magalia home even as the threat seemed to escalate. "We have had so many fires up there that it's kind of like it's nothing," said Wright. "It's just on to the next." When the house behind his caught on fire, its propane tank exploding, Wright's father finally decided it was time to move on.

Residents did not find an easy path to safety. The narrow mountain roads out of the communities quickly jammed, forcing some people to leave their cars and run for their lives. The incinerated corpses of others, still in their cars, provided ample evidence that the alarm wasn't raised in time.

As Honea was pressed for more answers at Monday's meeting, he acknowledged that thoughts of those who could not escape troubled him. "I understand it was absolutely chaotic," the sheriff said. "I will probably never be able to give you an answer that satisfies you."

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Survivors of deadly Paradise, California fire say warnings came too late

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LOS ANGELES - Belated warnings from public officials and the reluctance of residents who had survived previous fires to leave home were among the factors that contributed to the delayed and chaotic evacuation in what has become the deadliest wildfire in California history, survivors said.

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More than 40 people have died in Northern California's Camp Fire, and authorities estimate hundreds could still be missing. ​Are you searching for a friend or loved one, or do you know someone who is?

NPR and our Northern California member stations want to hear your story. You can share at the form below, and someone from NPR, KQED, Capital Public Radio or North State Public Radio may follow up.

To officially report a person missing or found, please contact the Butte County Sheriff's Office's Missing Persons Call Center at 530-538-6570; 530-538-7544; 530-538-7671.

Powered by Screendoor. Browser Support: IE10 and above. For IE9 support, use our legacy embed, which offers a degraded experience. Options: Take a look at our documentation. If you are customizing the embed, we recommend manually specifying the version number. Change /1/ in each URL to the latest version, /1.3.10/ . What's next? Invite your team to evaluate responses together.

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Do You Know Someone Missing As The Camp Fire Burns?

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More than 40 people have died in Northern California's Camp Fire, and authorities estimate hundreds could still be missing. ​Are you searching for a friend or loved one, or do you know someone who is? NPR and our Northern California member stations want to hear your story.

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This article was talks about possible blame and potential financial repercussions.

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The admission by California's biggest power company that it may be to blame for at least one of the deadly fires ravaging the state sent company stock prices tumbling Wednesday by as much as 30 percent.

Meanwhile, Pacific Gas & Electric on Wednesday was also hit with the first of what's likely to be many lawsuits alleging that the infernos were the result of negligence and that the utility was more interested in boosting profits and salaries than investing in infrastructure.

"PG&E's safety record is an abomination," the suit states.

PG&E stocks were trading at $47.80 a share on Nov. 8, the day that the blazes broke out. The value of utility's shares were about $25 on Wednesday. The stock closed at 25.59, down 21.79 percent at the bell, according to CNBC.

The steep decline on Wall Street came after PG&E admitted in a document filed Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission that its equipment may have sparked the Camp Fire that's burning in Northern California - and that they might not have enough insurance to cover the expected cost of the damage.

"While the cause of the Camp Fire is still under investigation, if the Utility's equipment is determined to be the cause, the Utility could be subject to significant liability in excess of insurance coverage," the company said in the document, which was obtained by CNBC.

That would "have a material impact on PG&E Corporation's and the Utility's financial condition, results of operations, liquidity, and cash flows."

Not long after that, a trio of law firms who refer to themselves as the Northern California Fire Lawyers filed suit Tuesday in San Francisco County Superior Court alleging that PG&E failed to properly maintain, repair and replace its equipment and that "its inexcusable behavior contributed to the cause of the 'Camp Fire.'"

"Rather than spend the money it obtains from customers for infrastructure maintenance and safety, PG&E funnels this funding to boost its own corporate profits and compensation," the suit states. "This pattern and practice of favoring profits over having a solid and well-maintained infrastructure that would be safe and dependable for years to come left PG&E vulnerable to an increased risk of a catastrophic event such as the Camp Fire."

Before that blaze broke out, PG&E warned customers it might turn off power in some areas because of the high risk of igniting a wildfire.

"Despite its own recognition of these impending hazardous conditions, on the day of the Camp Fire's ignition, PG&E ultimately made the decision not to proceed with its plans for a power shutoff," the lawsuit states.

The three major wildfires have claimed at least 51 lives, and 48 of those fatalities were reported at the "Camp Fire," officials said. More than 237,000 acres have been consumed by the blazes, and virtually the entire town of Paradise, California was reduced to ashes.

In anticipation of the expected lawsuits, PG&E has already drawn down $3 billion from its credit line, CNBC reported. But even before the admission, the utility was taking steps to protect itself.

CEO Geisha Williams told stock holders on Nov. 5 that she would once again try to change a state policy called " inverse condemnation," which holds utilities responsible for any damage done by their equipment even if they have done nothing intentionally wrong.

PG&E is still dealing with 200 or so lawsuits from the deadly 2017 wildfires.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection blamed PG&E equipment for starting at least 16 of those fires, which could cost the utility up to an estimate $15 billion in damages.

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Pacific Gas & Electric stock price tumbles ahead of lawsuit by California fire victims

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The admission by California's biggest power company that it may be to blame for at least one of the deadly fires ravaging the state sent company stock prices tumbling Wednesday by as much as 30 percent.

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Smoke From California Wildfires Affecting Millions Of People Far From Fire Zones

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The massive wildfires in California have raised concerns about air quality for vulnerable populations, such as children and people with heart or lung conditions.

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Minutes before the deadly Camp and Woolsey fires started in Northern and Southern California on Thursday, utilities reported problems with electricity lines in the same areas where the blazes sprang up, according to filings with the state regulatory commission.

Together, the two fires have been blamed for 44 deaths and have consumed more than 200,000 acres of land, as of around midday Tuesday. The Camp fire is now the deadliest wildfire in state history, responsible for at least 42 deaths.

The cause of the two fires is still under investigation - and likely will be for months, given the complexity of the cases and the devastation at the scenes. A spokeswoman for the California Public Utilities Commission says it is investigating the blazes in coordination with the state Cal Fire agency, and that it will be taking the two Electric Safety Incident Reports from Thursday into account.

California requires utilities to report equipment malfunctions with 24 hours.

The first report came from Pacific Gas & Electric, which sent an official notice to the California Public Utilities Commission describing an outage on one of its transmission lines at Pulga Road in Butte County, at 6:15 a.m. local time. For comparison, Cal Fire says the Camp fire began at 6:33 a.m. on Pulga Road.

The next report came from Southern California Edison, which said a 16 kV circuit at its Chatsworth substation had relayed at 2:22 p.m., two minutes before Cal Fire says the Woolsey fire started. The utility said the substation is near E Street and Alfa Road in Ventura County - which is also where Cal Fire says the fire began.

Before the fires started, both PG&E and SCE had warned customers that dangerous weather - high winds, combined with very dry conditions - could cause power outages; they also also warned that they might be forced to turn off power in parts of their systems because of safety concerns. But neither company took that step to a large extent last week.

At least two days before the Pulga Road problem arose, PG&E sent multiple tweets warning customers about what it called a potential public safety power shutoff, saying electrical service "may need to be turned off for safety reasons to about 63,000 customers early Thur, Nov. 8." The possible affected areas included part of Butte, Lake, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sierra, Sonoma, and Yuba counties.

But on Thursday, the company opted not to cut power after all, releasing a statement saying, "PG&E has determined that it will not proceed with plans today (Nov. 8) for a Public Safety Power Shutoff in portions of eight Northern California counties, as weather conditions did not warrant this safety measure."

When contacted on Tuesday for comment about the decision not to shut off power, PG&E spokesman Jason King said, "we are not able to share more information beyond" what is in its official report.

"Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers, employees, contractors and the communities we serve," King said. "Our hearts are with the communities impacted by the Camp Fire. The loss of life and property is staggering. Right now, our entire company is focused on supporting first responders and assisting our customers and communities impacted by the Camp Fire."

King added that the information in the incident report to the CPUC is preliminary, saying that PG&E "will fully cooperate with any investigations."

He also noted, "The cause of the Camp Fire has not yet been determined."

The case is under intense scrutiny, and only in part because the utility has a history of its equipment being blamed for starting wildfires. In addition, the owner of the small town of Pulga, tells The Mercury News that PG&E sent her an email last Wednesday, warning that a nearby tower was "having problems with sparks."

SCE issued its own warnings last Tuesday and Wednesday, retweeting a National Weather Service warning of Red Flag status for potential fire risks on Thursday and reminding people to stay away from downed power lines. It followed that with a message highlighting the risk of strong Santa Ana winds across Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

Santa Ana winds will develop later this morning and peak late tonight into Friday morning. Widespread gusts 35 to 50 mph across L.A. and Ventura County coast and valleys, and up to 60 to 70 mph L.A. County Mtns including Santa Monica Mtns. #cawx #Socal pic.twitter.com/ziFPVVudMR
- NWS Los Angeles (@NWSLosAngeles) November 8, 2018

In a statement that was updated on Tuesday, SCE said that "about 74,000 customers in high fire risk areas were notified last week of possible power shutoffs in the event extreme winds created a threat to public safety."

The utility said that it didn't cut off power to any customers until after 7 p.m. on Thursday, when it shut off electricity to eight customers on Little Tujunga Canyon Road in the Santa Clarita and Sylmar areas, "due to dangerous winds in red flag fire areas."

SCE says it "will fully cooperate with any investigations" into the fires in Southern California. And like PG&E, the utility notes that the cause of the fires has not been determined.

In an email to NPR, the CPUC says it "will incorporate PG&E's and Edison's incident reports ... into its staff investigations to assess the compliance of electric facilities with applicable rules and regulations in fire impacted areas." It adds that in Cal Fire's investigation will focus on determining how the fires started, and the way they spread.

If the timing of the previous investigations is any indication, the state's findings about what sparked the fires may not be reported until at least next spring. It was in May of this year that the first report began to emerge that linked the same two utilities to destructive wildfires in 2017.

In June, the California forestry agency blamed 12 wildfires on downed power lines owned by PG&E. Those blazes killed 18 people and resulted in dozens of lawsuits being filed against the large utility.

And in October, Southern California Edison said its equipment was at least in part to blame for the Thomas Fire that burned more than 280,000 acres in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties last year.

On Wednesday, the California Public Utilities Commission will host a meeting to discuss utilities' wildfire mitigation plans, urging members of the public to attend the session in San Francisco. It's part of a process that was started by SB 901, legislation that requires electric utilities to provide more detail in their plans. Both Pacific Gas and Electric Company and Southern California Edison will participate in the meeting.

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2 Electric Utilities Reported Problems Minutes Before Deadly Wildfires Began

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Minutes before the deadly Camp and Woolsey fires started in Northern and Southern California on Thursday, utilities reported problems with electricity lines in the same areas where the blazes sprang up, according to filings with the state regulatory commission.

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This story puts responsibility on the private utilities and even puts Climate Change on the list of culprits

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This story puts responsibility on the private utilities and even puts Climate Change on the list of culprits

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California is on fire again.

These latest wildfires are already the deadliest yet and they continue to burn. These emergency events have been called "the new normal," but California Governor Jerry Brown isn't having that. He says it's " the new abnormal."

To be clear, humans are part of this. The effects of climate change make conditions for wildfires worse. As the Union of Concerned Scientists says:

US wildfire seasons-especially those in years with higher wildfire potential-are projected to lengthen, with the Southwest's season of fire potential lengthening from seven months to all year long. Additionally, the likelihood that individual wildfires become severe is expected to increase.

Researchers project that moist, forested areas are the most likely to face greater threats from wildfires as conditions in those areas become drier and hotter.

Surprisingly, some dry grasslands may be less at risk of catching fire because the intense aridity is likely to prevent these grasses from growing at all, leaving these areas so barren that they are likely to lack the fodder for wildfires to start and spread.

If wildfires are a more frequently occurring fact of life, what should change to minimize the loss of lives and damage?

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California's Deadliest Fire: The New Abnormal

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These latest wildfires are already the deadliest yet and they continue to burn. These emergency events have been called "the new normal," but California Governor Jerry Brown isn't having that. He says it's "the new abnormal."Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to our podcast.