Wildfires continued to burn in Northern and Southern California overnight as officials anxiously monitored the state’s whipping winds, which have the power to breathe dangerous life into the fires and complicate efforts to contain them.
Large swaths of the state remained under “red flag” warnings Wednesday morning — indicating that bone-dry conditions paired with strong winds created large areas at high risk for dangerous wildfires. The Storm Prediction Center warned again of “extremely critical fire weather” throughout Southern California, and parts of Northern California, including the North Bay mountains, were expected to see “widespread critical fire weather conditions.”
The conditions in Southern California have officials especially nervous: The National Weather Service in Oxnard went so far as to issue an “extreme red flag” warning in the Los Angeles area, underscoring just how dangerous the winds could become.
NWS meteorologist Tom Fisher told the Los Angeles Times that the Santa Ana winds could be the worst the region had seen since 2007, when dangerous weather fueled the sixth most destructive fire in California history.
“This is a terribly dangerous moment,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (D) said Tuesday, as the Getty Fire continued to burn. “We will continue to protect and defend this city with everything that we have.”
Fire crews are battling two main blazes in the state right now.
In the north, the Kincade Fire — this year’s largest wildfire — had grown to 76,138 acres in Sonoma Country as of Tuesday night, according to the Cal Fire. At least 189 structures had burned, 86 of them residential. Though fire officials prepared to beat back pop-up blazes brought on by expected winds overnight, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the gusts did not come.
“Diablo” winds had been expected to reach 70 mph in northern California, but stayed mostly around 50 mph, the Chronicle reported. The National Weather Service canceled its wind advisory in the area just after 2 a.m. local time.
“We’re not expecting any concern from wind doing any damage now,” Weather Service meteorologist Matt Mehle told the Chronicle. “The red flag warning is still in effect — we’re still seeing widespread lower humidity with all the dry fuel out there. But for now, we seem to be done with the wind.”
The winds in Southern California, though, have only gotten worse.
Fire crews there are still trying to contain the Getty Fire, which sparked Monday when a tree branch fell on power lines in Los Angeles County. As of Tuesday evening, the fire, on the western edge of Los Angeles, was 15 percent contained — and officials were bracing for a new wave of Santa Ana winds that could bring 80 mph gusts.
The Getty Fire had consumed about 656 acres as of Tuesday night and forced the evacuation of more than 7,000 homes. At least 12 homes have been destroyed in the blaze, and five others have been damaged, officials said.
The record-strong Santa Ana winds are expected are expected to last through at least Thursday morning.
This Santa Ana wind episode has the potential to be the worst of the season. Coming on the heels of other offshore windstorms, it means that any ignition sources, like a stray cigarette or a sparking power line, would find extremely flammable vegetation that’s ready to burn.
The number of people living in areas designated as being in either critical or extreme fire danger, which are the two worst categories, on Tuesday was about 20 million, according to the Storm Prediction Center. On Wednesday, the area enveloped by “extremely critical” fire risk, the most severe category, will expand to encompass 4.5 million, up from about 3.3 million Tuesday.
Officials in Sonoma County said Wednesday morning that many schools and districts in the area will remain close through Friday, and Los Angeles County authorities warned commuters and travelers to build extra time into their plans.
“High winds can make your drive extremely dangerous,” the county wrote on Twitter.
Derek Hawkins, Marisa Iati and Jason Samenow contributed to this report.