The Jim Bakker Show

Be ‘ready to GO!’ Southern California warns residents as fires rage

By Ben Gruber and Mike Blake

FARIA BEACH/LILAC, Calif. (Reuters) – Fanned by gusting winds, wildfires raged in densely populated Southern California for a fourth day on Thursday, with a new blaze north of San Diego exploding in size in just a few hours and dangerous conditions forecast until Sunday.

The blazes destroyed hundreds of houses and forced many Los Angeles-area schools to close. Flames hopscotched over highways and railroad tracks, and residents rushed to evacuate their homes with only minutes’ warning, some leaving behind holiday gifts. People feared for the safety of animals from cats to llamas.

About 200,000 residents were evacuated from their homes at one point, though some were due to return on Thursday evening.

Authorities said the four biggest fires — ranging from Los Angeles up the Pacific coast to Santa Barbara County — were whipped up by the region’s notorious westward Santa Ana winds that could reach hurricane strength.

The winds blow in hot and dry from the California desert, and the state CAL FIRE agency said gusty winds and extremely low humidity would continue through Sunday.

“Prepare now to ensure if evacuated you and your family are ready to GO!” CAL FIRE said on Twitter.

The Thomas Fire northwest of Los Angeles grew to 115,000 acres (46,540 hectares) from 96,000 acres (38,850 hectares) and destroyed 439 structures, officials said. More than 2,600 firefighters from as far away as Portland, Oregon, and Nevada were battling the blaze, which was 5-percent contained.

North of San Diego, another blaze called the Lilac Fire grew from 10 acres to 2,500 acres (1,011 hectares) in just a few hours on Thursday, CAL FIRE said, prompting Governor Jerry Brown to declare a state of emergency for San Diego County.

The blaze destroyed 20 structures and prompted evacuations and road closures. Propane tanks under several houses exploded from the heat, sounding like bombs, according to a Reuters photographer at the scene.

The other fires, which broke out on Monday and Tuesday, have reached into the wealthy enclave of Bel-Air on Los Angeles’ West Side. Some major highways in the densely populated area were intermittently closed.

Firefighters and helicopters sprayed and dumped bucketloads of water to try to contain the flames against a hellish backdrop of flaming mountains and walls of smoke.

No civilian casualties or fatalities have been reported from the blazes but three firefighters were injured, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.

In the seaside enclave of Faria Beach, caught between burning mountains and the Pacific Ocean, northwest of Ventura, fires spread down the smoking hills. Flames jumped the heavily used U.S. 101 highway and headed toward clusters of beach houses. Firefighters lined up along a railroad track, the last barrier from the flames.

Surrounded by strong winds and smoke, resident Songsri Kesonchampa aimed a garden hose at a large pine tree between her Faria Beach house and the fire, attempting to fend off disaster.

“If this tree catches fire, the strong wind will blow the flames towards my house. I need to protect this tree,” she said.

As she spoke, a sheriff’s car drove by, ordering residents to evacuate. “The fire is here. You must evacuate your homes right now,” an officer said over the loudspeaker.

In the coastal city of Ventura, resident Maurice Shimabuku said his friends had told him to evacuate but he was staying put for now, feeling safe because he was near the Pacific Ocean. “I know I can just run back out that way, so I am relatively safe,” he said. “I even have a surfboard and a wetsuit in my backyard right now, if I need to paddle away.”

Heavy smoke made breathing hazardous in some areas, and residents were urged to stay inside. Ventura County authorities said air pollution measures in the Ojai Valley were “off the charts.”

The Los Angeles Police Department tweeted, “LAPD Working to Save Every Californian, Pets Included” along with a photo of a police officer in a respirator rescuing a cat. The Los Angeles County animal shelter said it was hosting 184 pets including llamas, donkeys and horses while reports said 29 horses were burned to death on Tuesday at a ranch in the Sylmar neighborhood of Los Angeles.

The Skirball Fire in Los Angeles has forced hundreds of residents in the wooded hills near the Bel-Air neighborhood to evacuate and charred more than 475 acres (192 hectares).

Jeremy Broekman was camped out at his in-laws’ house in Sherman Oaks after evacuating his family of five early on Wednesday from their home a mile (1.6 km) away from the Skirball fire.

Broekman, who runs a public relations firm from his home office, had just an hour to get his family out of the house, grabbing hard drives and Pokemon cards and leaving behind a pile of Hannukah presents. He spent Thursday trying to work and checking the news while also caring for his three children, whose schools were closed because of the fire.

“Although we always say we can work remotely with the use of a laptop, when you are displaced like this you are emotionally unbalanced,” he said.

Skirball threatened media magnate Rupert Murdoch’s Moraga Estate winery. The property was evacuated, with possible damage to some buildings, Murdoch said in a statement, but “We believe the winery and house are still intact.”

CLASSES CANCELED

The Los Angeles Unified School District, the country’s second largest with more than 640,000 students, said it closed at least 265 of its nearly 1,100 schools. The University of California Santa Barbara canceled classes as well.

Utilities cut power to customers in some mountain communities northeast of San Diego and east of Los Angeles to lessen fire danger. The outage could last several days.

The fires are the second outbreak to ravage parts of California this autumn. The celebrated wine country in the northern part of the state was hit by wind-driven wildfires in October that killed at least 43 people, forced some 10,000 to flee their homes and consumed at least 245,000 acres (9,900 hectares) north of the San Francisco Bay area.

The California Department of Insurance said the northern California blazes caused insured losses of more than $9 billion.

GRAPHIC: Southern California wildfires, click http://tmsnrt.rs/2ADhxIj

(Reporting by Ben Gruber in Faria Beach, California and Mike Blake in Lilac, California; Additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb and Nichola Groom in Los Angeles, Peter Szekely in New York and Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee; Writing by Bill Trott and Cynthia Osterman; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe, James Dalgleish and Lisa Shumaker; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Winds whip up wildfires, forcing mass evacuations in California

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Hot, dry Santa Ana winds are expected to fan several relentless wildfires in southern California on Thursday, where hundreds of houses have burned and tens of thousands have fled their homes around Los Angeles, the second-largest U.S. city.

The winds, which blow westward from the California desert, were forecast to reach 75 mph (130 kph) on Thursday. That could stoke several blazes burning in the Los Angeles area that have already caused, according to local media, about 200,000 people to evacuate.

“Strong winds over night creating extreme fire danger,” said an alert sent by the countrywide emergency system in Los Angeles.

Video and photographs on social media showed flame-covered hillsides along busy roadways as commuters slowly made their way to work or home, rows of houses reduced to ash and firefighters spraying water on walls of fire as they tried to save houses.

“We are in the beginning of a protracted wind event,” Ken Pimlott, director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), told the Los Angeles Times. “There will be no ability to fight fire in these kinds of winds.”

In the San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles, the Creek Fire destroyed at least 30 homes, blackened more than 12,000 acres (4,800 hectares) and forced the evacuation of 2,500 homes and a convalescent center.

Another fire, known as the Rye Fire, threatened more than 5,000 homes and structures northwest of Los Angeles.

The Skirball Fire, which erupted early on Wednesday had burned about 500 acres (200 hectares) near large estates in the Bel-Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, was only 5 percent contained. Firefighters battled to save multimillion-dollar homes in the path of the flames.

“These are days that break your heart,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said during a news conference. “These are also days that show the resilience of our city.”

No civilian casualties or fatalities have been reported. Three firefighters were injured and hospitalized in stable condition, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.

Dozens of schools across the area canceled classes on Thursday.

The largest blaze, the Thomas Fire, burned more than 90,000 acres (36,000 hectares) after it destroyed more than 150 homes and threatened thousands more in Ventura, about 50 miles (80 km) northwest on Los Angeles.

Additional evacuations were called for late on Wednesday in the Ventura area, where 50,000 people had already fled their homes over the last three days.

“The danger is imminent,” Cal Fire said in its evacuation notice.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee, editing by Larry King)

Thousands flee wildfire in Ventura County, north of Los Angeles

VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. (Reuters) – A rapidly spreading wildfire in the foothills north of Los Angeles threatened thousands of homes on Tuesday, forcing residents to evacuate after causing at least one death and power outages throughout the area, officials said.

Some 7,700 households in Ventura County, California, about 70 miles (115 km) northwest of Los Angeles, were told to leave as the 31,000-acre wildfire, known as the Thomas Fire, burned dry brush after erupting earlier on Monday evening, Ventura County officials said on Twitter.

One motorist was killed fleeing the blaze, a local ABC television affiliate reported. More than 250,000 homes lost power and at least two structures were destroyed, a local power company said on Twitter.

“We got my kids out first,” Melissa Grisales told ABC 7 in Los Angeles. “Pretty scary, really. I didn’t think it was going to come to that, but I am starting to get pretty concerned.”

About 500 firefighters battled the fire that destroyed multiple structures, officials said on the Ventura County website.

Strong eastern winds pushed the fire toward the cities of Santa Paula and Ventura, where about 140,000 people live, county officials said.

“We’re really just trying to catch it around the edges and just pinching it off as quickly as we possibly can,” Ventura County firefighter Jason Hodge told the Los Angeles Times.

The fire was stoked by wind gusts of up to 70 mph (115 kph) that were expected to remain in the area along with low humidity through the week, the National Weather Service forecast.

About 390 students at Thomas Aquinas College were evacuated as a precaution, the school said on Twitter.

Evacuation centers were opened at a high school and the county fairgrounds, media reported.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Catherine Evans and Jeffrey Benkoe)

Death toll from California blazes rises to 43, after teen dies

By Alex Dobuzinskis

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The death toll from the deadliest rash of wildfires in California history has risen to 43, after a 17-year-old girl who was badly burned in the fires earlier this month died at a hospital, officials said on Monday.

The spate of wind-driven wildfires erupted on Oct. 8 in the heart of California wine country and consumed at least 245,000 acres (99,148 hectares) across several counties north of the San Francisco Bay area.

An estimated 100,000 people were forced to flee their homes, some at a moment’s notice as flames swept whole neighborhoods. Authorities have said the conflagration may have been sparked by power lines toppled in the same high winds that swiftly spread the flames.

Some 8,900 dwellings and other structures were incinerated, including entire subdivisions in the Sonoma County town of Santa Rosa, which sustained the greatest losses.

The latest victim, 17-year-old Kressa Shepherd, died on Sunday at a Sacramento-area hospital, a clerk with the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office said.

The teenager was declared brain dead after undergoing surgery and suffering cardiac arrest, according to a fund-raising website established by relatives.

It said she had been found badly burned and disoriented in a driveway after her family tried to escape flames advancing on their home in the Redwood Valley area of Mendocino County early on Oct. 9. The website said the family’s car caught fire as they tried to outrun the blaze, forcing them out of the vehicle.

Shepherd’s 14-year-old brother, Kai, died that day, the website said. The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office later reported the discovery of his body. The parents were also badly burned, according to local media.

A spokeswoman for the family could not immediately be reached for comment.

The addition of Kressa Shepherd’s death brought the overall number of fatalities from the so-called North Bay fires to 43, including one firefighter, marking the greatest loss of life from a single wildfire event in California.

The tally far surpasses the 29 deaths from the Griffith Park fire of 1933 in Los Angeles and the 25 fatalities from a firestorm that swept Oakland Hills in 1991.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Steve Gorman and Leslie Adler)

Insured losses from deadly California wildfires could hit $3 billion

By Keith Coffman

(Reuters) – Insured property losses from wildfires that raged through Northern California wine country this month, killing at least 42 people and destroying thousands of businesses and homes, could total $2 billion to $3 billion, a risk-modeling firm said on Thursday.

The analysis by Boston-based AOR Worldwide, encompassing anticipated claims for destroyed residences, automobiles, commercial properties and other economic losses, is at least double a preliminary tally estimated last week by the California Department of Insurance.

The AOR report said losses would be dominated by devastation in residential areas, especially in Sonoma County, where entire neighborhood blocks were reduced to ashes.

Since erupting on Oct. 8, the wind-driven wildfires have consumed some 245,000 acres across several California counties north of the San Francisco Bay area, leaving at least 8,700 structures destroyed.

Most of the property loss was concentrated in California’s celebrated wine country, including Sonoma County, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, said this week.

Authorities have confirmed 42 fatalities in Sonoma and three other Northern California counties, among them a volunteer firefighter who was killed when his water-tender truck crashed. The death toll marked the greatest loss of life from a single wildfire event in the state’s history.

The $1 billion gap between the low- and high-end estimates was due to uncertainty surrounding how many claims will be filed for living expenses from residents forced to flee their homes, as well as for smoke damage and business disruptions caused by power outages, AOR Worldwide said.

Another unknown factor is the scope of damage that may have occurred during fire suppression efforts, it added.

A preliminary estimate from the California Department of Insurance a week ago put insured losses at just over $1 billion, although it said that figure would likely rise.

A spokeswoman with the department said on Thursday that the agency has not updated its figures.

The October wildfire outbreak was fueled by unseasonably high temperatures, tinder-dry conditions, and gusty winds. As of Thursday, most of the fires were near, or at, full containment, Cal Fire said.

Cooler weather forecast for the region in coming days should ease the wildfire risk, AOR said in its report, although Cal Fire urged the public exercise caution to avoid igniting further blazes as warm, dry weather lingers across parts of the state.

(Reporting by Keith Coffman in Denver; Editing by Steve Gorman and Michael Perry)

California Dept of Insurance estimates wildfires losses at $1.05 billion

By Suzanne Barlyn and Sangameswaran S

(Reuters) – The California Department of Insurance said on Thursday its preliminary estimate for insured wildfire losses was $1.05 billion, based on claims received by the state’s eight largest insurers, adding that it expected the numbers to rise.

Insurers have received 601 claims for commercial property losses, 4,177 claims for partial residential losses and 3,000 claims for auto losses, said California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones during a media call.

Since erupting on Oct. 8 and 9, the blazes in parts of Northern California have blackened more than 245,000 acres, (86,200 hectares) and destroyed an estimated 6,900 structures as of Thursday, including homes, wineries and other commercial buildings.

More than 15,000 people remain displaced, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said on Thursday.

A fire that started Monday in the Santa Cruz Mountains now threatens 300 homes, Jones said.

Residents of Northern California’s wine country left homeless by the state’s deadliest-ever wildfires could be temporarily housed in federal government trailers, officials said on Wednesday, as the death toll from the blazes rose to 42.

Moody’s Investor Service estimated insured losses at $4.6 billion on Monday, based on an earlier figure of 5,700 destroyed structures, according to a report.

Insurer Travelers Cos Inc <TRV.N>, which announced its third quarter results on Thursday, also warned investors of large claims likely this quarter from the wildfires.

The company paused a share repurchase plan in September to conserve cash as it reviewed claims from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, which made landfall in September and October, and it is still evaluating that position in the light of wildfire claims, said Travelers Chief Executive Alan Schnitzer on a conference call with analysts.

State Farm is California’s largest homeowners insurer and sixth-largest commercial fire insurer, according to a Moody’s analysis.

The insurer, as of Thursday, received 3,220 homeowners insurance claims and 1,110 auto insurance claims, mostly from damage sustained in Napa and Sonoma Counties, a spokesman said.

Other large insurers in California include Farmers Insurance, CSAA Insurance Group, Travelers and Allstate Corp <ALL.N> and Chubb Ltd. <CB.N>.

(Reporting by Sangameswaran S in Bengaluru and Suzanne Barlyn in New York; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and David Gregorio)

Trailers could house those displaced by fires in California wine country

By Dan Whitcomb and Alex Dobuzinskis

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Residents of Northern California’s wine country left homeless by the state’s deadliest-ever wildfires could be temporarily housed in federal government trailers, officials said on Wednesday, as the death toll from the blazes rose to 42.

Since erupting on Oct. 8 and 9, the blazes have blackened more than 245,000 acres, (86,200 hectares) and destroyed an estimated 4,600 homes along with wineries and commercial buildings.

Thousands of survivors, forced to flee the flames with little warning, remain displaced. Many are returning to find nothing left, forcing them to seek housing in emergency shelters or with family and friends.

The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency has called trailers a solution of last resort for housing the displaced.

But local officials said they had few other options because of a lack of hotels and rental housing, especially around Santa Rosa – the urban hub of the region’s wine country – which had nearly 5 percent of its homes destroyed.

“We have talked to FEMA about trailers, we’re not sure what the availability is, how soon we could get them here, but we are looking at every option,” Santa Rosa Mayor Chris Coursey told Reuters by phone.

“I don’t relish having people living in FEMA trailers, but it’s a hell of a lot better than sleeping out under the stars,” he said.

FEMA deployed trailers to house thousands of people displaced by 2005’s Hurricane Katrina along the U.S. Gulf Coast, triggering lawsuits by people who contended they were exposed to formaldehyde in the government-issued housing.

A judge in 2012 approved a settlement requiring builders of the trailers to pay a settlement of nearly $40 million.

FEMA’s latest trailers, which it calls manufactured or temporary housing units, have new safety features and are built to high standards, the agency said in a blog post last year.

The agency is only at the beginning stage of determining which options to employ, in consultation with local officials, to house people displaced by the fires, FEMA spokesman Victor Inge said by phone.

“A temporary housing unit is an absolute last resort, they’re expensive and they take a long time to get set up,” Inge said.

‘PROBABLY GOING TO NEED TRAILERS’

Officials with Sonoma County, which includes Santa Rosa, are considering sites with built-in utilities, such as running water and electricity, for mobile-home units, said Margaret Van Vliet, executive director of the Sonoma County Community Development Commission.

“We know we’re probably going to need FEMA trailers,” she said.

Firefighters on Wednesday were still battling the blazes, the deadliest in state history, as search-and-rescue teams picked through burned-out neighborhoods.

Law enforcement officials said the body of the 42nd confirmed victim was found late on Tuesday in the Fountain Grove section of Santa Rosa.

About 60 people remain missing or unaccounted for in Sonoma and Napa counties. Most of the more than 2,000 people listed in missing-persons reports have turned up safe, including evacuees who failed to alert authorities after fleeing their homes.

Fire officials said that while 13 major blazes were still burning as of Wednesday, the flames were largely contained and no longer considered a threat to homes or communities.

“We have stopped the forward progress and movement of all these fires, we have line around them,” Brett Gouvea, a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection deputy chief, told reporters at an afternoon news conference. A Santa Rosa couple whose house was destroyed sued Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) on Tuesday, alleging the utility failed to take preventative measures in the face of dangerous drought conditions.

Representatives for PG&E said that the utility was focused on supporting firefighting efforts and restoring power

About 30 vintners sustained fire damage to wine-making facilities, vineyards, tasting rooms or other assets, according to the Napa Valley Vintners industry group

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb and Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Jim Christie in San Francisco and Keith Coffman in Denver; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Peter Cooney)

Portugal’s interior minister resigns after deadly wildfires

Smoke and flames from a forest fire are seen near Lousa, Portugal, October 16, 2017. REUTERS/Pedro Nunes

LISBON (Reuters) – Portugal’s Interior Minister Constanca Urbano de Sousa resigned on Wednesday after wildfires killed more than a hundred people in the past months.

Hundreds of fires have raged across northern and central Portugal since Sunday after the driest summer in nearly 90 years, killing at least 41 people and overwhelming firefighting and rescue services. In June, a forest fire killed 64 people.

The Interior Ministry is in charge of firefighters, the police and civil protection agency, which have all faced criticism after the fires.

In her resignation letter, the minister said: “I didn’t have the political and personal conditions to continue in my post.”

Prime Minister Antonio Costa said in a statement he accepted the minister’s resignation.

An opposition politician launched a motion of no-confidence in the Socialist government on Tuesday.

This year’s fires have burned a total of 350,000 hectares, the worst since 2003.

(Reporting By Axel Bugge; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

California wildfire evacuees allowed home as crews search for bodies

By Paresh Dave

SANTA ROSA, Calif. (Reuters) – More evacuees were expected to return home on Tuesday in Northern California where the state’s deadliest wildfires have killed at least 41 people and destroyed thousands of homes.

Officials said they expected the death toll to rise as 88 people were unaccounted for in Sonoma County alone and search-and-rescue teams combed through gutted homes looking for bodies.

Lighter winds have allowed the 11,000 firefighters battling the flames, which have consumed more than 213,000 acres (86,200 hectares), to gain control of two of the deadliest fires in wine country’s Napa and Sonoma counties.

The Tubbs fire was 75 percent contained and the Atlas fire 70 percent contained on Monday night, said Cal Fire, the state’s firefighting agency, which was hopeful the blazes would be fully contained by Friday.

Tens of thousands of people who fled the flames in Sonoma County and elsewhere have been allowed to return home, with about 40,000 still displaced.

Daniel Mufson, 74, a retired pharmaceutical executive and one of scores of Napa Valley residents who lost their homes in the fires, described his sense of bewilderment.

“Now we’re just trying to figure out what the next steps are. We’re staying with friends, and dealing with the issues of dealing with insurance companies and getting things cleaned up,” Mufson, president of a community-activist coalition called Napa Vision 2050, told Reuters.

The remains of a mobile home park where fatalities took place when it was destroyed in wildfire are seen in Santa Rosa.
REUTERS/Jim Urquhart

CONSUMED

At least 5,700 homes and businesses have been destroyed by the wildfires that erupted a week ago and consumed an area larger than that of New York City. Entire neighborhoods in the city of Santa Rosa were reduced to ashes.

The wildfires are California’s deadliest on record, surpassing the 29 deaths from the Griffith Park fire of 1933 in Los Angeles.

Most of the 1,863 people so far listed in missing-persons reports have turned up safe, including many evacuees who failed to alert authorities after fleeing their homes.

Hopes for victims known to have been in the direct path of the flames will dwindle as each day passes, Sonoma County Sheriff Robert Giordano said on Monday.

About 30 vintners sustained some level of fire damage to wine-making facilities, vineyards, tasting rooms or other assets, the Napa Valley Vintners association said. But only about a half dozen reported significant losses, spokeswoman Patsy McGaughy said.

Vineyards, which mainly occupy the valley floor, appear to have been largely unscathed as the fires in Napa County burned mainly in the hillsides, McGaughy said. About 90 percent of Napa’s grape harvest had been picked and escaped potential exposure to smoke that could have tainted the fruit.

Still, the toll taken on the region as a whole has thrown the wine industry into disarray, and McGaughy said the 2017 Napa vintage will likely be smaller than it otherwise would have been.

“This is a human tragedy, there are people who have lost their lives, lost their homes, lost their business,” McGaughy said, adding Napa’s celebrated viniculture would recover.

(Reporting by Paresh Dave in Santa Rosa, Calif; Additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb and Steve Gorman in Los Angeles and Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Firefighters gaining edge in California wildfires that have killed at least 40

Search and Rescue teams search for two missing people amongst ruins at Journey's End Mobile Home Park destroyed by the Tubbs Fire in Santa Rosa.

By Salvador Rodriguez

SANTA ROSA (Reuters) – Firefighters began gaining ground on wildfires that killed at least 40 people in the past week, the deadliest blazes in California’s history, as winds eased and searchers combed charred ruins for more victims with hundreds still missing.

Two of the three most destructive Northern California fires were more than half contained early on Monday, and some residents who fled the flames in hard-hit Sonoma County could be allowed to return home later in the day, officials said.

More than 5,700 structures were destroyed by more than a dozen wildfires that ignited a week ago and consumed an area larger than New York City. Entire neighborhoods in the city of Santa Rosa were reduced to ashes.

“Overall, things are feeling optimistic. We’re very cautious about that,” said Brad Gouvea, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection incident commander. “You’d never know it’s the middle of October in Sonoma County and have fire behavior like this.”

A firefighting helicopter drops water to defend a vineyard from an approaching wildfire in Santa Rosa.
REUTERS/Jim Urquhart

Warm and very dry weather is forecast to continue through Monday, the National Weather Service said. Rain could arrive on Thursday after a cooling trend, it said.

Steve Crawford, a Cal Fire operations chief, said heavy winds had lightened and helped drive flames away from populated areas. Better weather and additional equipment and manpower made available as other fires died down had also helped.

“Before we were kind of chasing the fire,” he said.

In another hopeful sign, Mendocino County authorities said power company PG&E would begin flying low in the county to check lines and re-establish power.

About 11,000 firefighters supported by air tankers and helicopters are battling blazes that have consumed more than 217,000 acres (88,000 hectares).

About 50 search-and-rescue personnel backed by National Guard troops were combing tens of thousands of charred acres in Sonoma County for bodies, sheriff’s spokeswoman Misti Harris said.

“Once it’s safe to go through, we’ll search every structure,” she said.

Twenty-two people were killed in Sonoma County and 174 were still listed as missing there, although the number has dropped from 235 on Saturday as more people checked in with authorities.

Evacuation orders were lifted for the picturesque Napa Valley resort town of Calistoga, whose 5,000 residents were ordered out by authorities four days ago with fire just miles from downtown.

Thank you banners to responders are hung above Highway 101 after wildfires tore through portions of Santa Rosa, California, U.S., October 15, 2017. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart

RETURNING TO THE UNKNOWN

Some evacuees being housed at a Sonoma raceway hoped to return home.

Retiree Stephen Garner, 68, of Sonoma, has been camped with his wife in the couple’s recreational vehicle.

“As far as we know our house is OK, but that’s the hard part, you don’t know,” he said.

In Redwood Valley, a scorched Mendocino County town of about 1,700 people, Jami Flores and her family sifted through the ruins of their two-story rental home, which was reduced to rubble.

“There’s been a lot of crying and a lot of emotions,” Flores, 42, said.

Flores, her husband and daughter fled Monday morning after being awoken by the smell of smoke, not uncommon in the area. Seeing a red haze, they rushed to leave amid falling ash and arriving firefighters.

“The mountain was on fire,” Flores said. Now she wonders, “Where do we all go next?”

The fast-moving fires north of San Francisco remained a danger, with thousands ordered to leave their homes at the weekend.

Firefighters gained control of two of the deadliest fires in wine country’s Napa and Sonoma counties: The Tubbs fire was 60 percent contained and the Atlas fire 65 percent contained, Cal Fire said. Nearly half of the Redwood Valley fire, which alone is responsible for eight deaths in Mendocino County, was extinguished by late Sunday.

The 40 confirmed fatalities make the fires California’s deadliest since record-keeping began, surpassing the 29 deaths from the Griffith Park fire of 1933 in Los Angeles.

About 75,000 people remain displaced.

At least a dozen Napa Valley and Sonoma County wineries were damaged or destroyed, throwing the state’s wine industry and related tourism into disarray.

Firefighters from Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Utah and New York are helping battle the blazes. Cal Fire estimated the fires would be contained by Friday.

The year’s wildfire season is one of the worst in U.S. history, with nearly 8.6 million acres (3.4 million hectares) burned by Oct. 13, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The worst on record for the same period in a year was 9.3 million acres in 2015.

(Editing by Chris Michaud and Paul Tait)

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