Caldor fire update LIVE – Evacuation map from Cal Fire Incidents as Dixie Fire moves toward California town
A MASSIVE wildfire continues to rage through Northern California as an evacuation map has been released to locals.
The Caldor fire raged through a small Northern California forest town Tuesday, burning dozens of homes as dangerously dry and windy weather also continued to fuel other massive blazes across the state.
The fire is now within just 8 miles of Susanville, California, which has a population of population about 18,000.
The Caldor fire in the northern Sierra Nevada had burned an estimated 50 homes in and around Grizzly Flats, a town of about 1,200 people, fire officials said at a community meeting.
Numerous resources were put into the Susanville area, where residents were warned to be ready to evacuate, said Mark Brunton, an operations section chief.
“It’s not out of play, and the next 24 hours are going to be crucial to watch as to what the fire is going to do there,” he told an online briefing.
The Dixie Fire, which had burned some 600 homes, is the largest of the major wildfires burning in Western U.S. states that have seen historic drought and weeks of high temperatures and dry weather that have left trees, brush and grasslands as flammable as tinder.
Read our Candor fire live blog for the latest news and updates…
- Julia Fields
RECORD HIGH HEATS
According to ABC, temperatures have been hitting record highs across the state.
In Death Valley, temperatures reached a record 57 degrees – one of the hottest spells on record.
Palm Springs, Southern California, hit a record high temperature of 49 degrees.
In California's agricultural Central Valley, 100-degree temperatures blanketed the region, with Fresno reaching 44 degrees just one degree short of the all-time high for the date.
- Julia Fields
TOTAL WILDFIRES IN 2021
A total of 4,152 fires have been recorded in California in 2021, according to Cal Fire figures.
- Julia Fields
'A DAUNTING START'
Max Moritz, a wildfire expert with the University of California Cooperative Extension in Santa Barbara, said: “We’re off to a daunting start.
"We're starting off much drier and we're seeing more fires much earlier than usual."
And while heat is largely the cause, there have also been many reports of some of the newest wildfires breaking out because of lightning strikes and wild tornadoes.
- Julia Fields
WHAT CAUSED THE CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES?
The latest set of Californian wildfires have been caused by severe rising heat temperatures across the Western States.
It has been coupled with drought conditions that have been compounded after the state experienced its driest 12 months on record.
Wildfires usually start by the heat of the sun causing a small fire to break out in woodlands, which grows as it consumes the flammable material around it.
- Julia Fields
CLIMATE CHANGE
More than 25,000 firefighters, support personnel and management teams were assigned to U.S. blazes.
Climate change has made the U.S. West warmer and drier in the past 30 years and will continue to make the weather more extreme and wildfires more destructive, according to scientists.
- Julia Fields
OPERATING IN CRISIS MODE
The Dixie Fire is the largest of nearly 100 major wildfires burning across more than a dozen Western states.
Historic drought and weeks of high temperatures and dry weather have left trees, brush and grasslands as flammable as tinder.
The U.S. Forest Service said last week that it is operating in crisis mode, with more than double the number of firefighters deployed than at the same time a year ago.
- Julia Fields
CONDITIONS 'NOT YET SAFE'
Cal Fire's report adds: "The actual number of destroyed/damaged structures is undetermined as fire conditions are not yet safe to bring in damage assessment teams."
The report states: "The fire continues to pose a high risk to multiple populated communities…[it] is predicted to impact Sly Park Lake and interstate travel including important evacuation routes.”
Pioneer Elementary, Walt Tyler Elementary and Mountain Creek Middle School were closed.
- Julia Fields
SHERIFF'S OFFICE ISSUES ORDERS
The El Dorado Sheriff's Office issued evacuation orders for those living in the Grizzly Flats and Happy Valley regions.
They said: "Night firefighting and challenging terrain made accessing the fire difficult.
"The fire burned very actively throughout the night."
- Julia Fields
MASS EVACUATION
Around 2,500 people are under evacuation orders and warnings because of the blaze, which fire spokesman Chris Vestal said nearly tripled in size overnight.
More than 240 firefighters are currently helping to contain the flames.
- Julia Fields
WHY IS THE SUN RED?
The sun has been appearing to be much more red than usual across the US – and this has been caused by the wildfires.
The tinge is because of dense smoke particles in the upper reaches of the atmosphere.
These interact with sunlight, scattering incoming light into the long wavelengths of red light.
Because of these longer wavelengths the sky is given an reddish-orange tint.
- Julia Fields
EVACUATION ORDERS
And now the blaze in Caldor, California, has seen evacuation orders issued for those living in the Grizzly Flats and Happy Valley regions.
Pioneer Elementary, Walt Tyler Elementary and Mountain Creek Middle School have also been closed, while people are told to leave their homes.
- Julia Fields
THE DIXIE FIRE
The Dixie Fire – named for the road where the blaze sparked – engulfed an area larger than the size of New York City.
It's the largest current wildland blaze in the nation, and the third-largest in recorded California history, according to the state Department of Fire and Forestry Protection.
- Julia Fields
BOOTLEG FIRE
The Bootleg Fire, a blaze raging through Oregon since July 6, has burned itself over 388,360 acres of land.
It was burning about 300 miles from the state's largest city, Portland, in and around the Fremont-Winema National Forest.
Thousands of homes have been evacuated, but fortunately, there have been no reported deaths.
There has been significant damage, though. At least 160 homes and buildings have been destroyed.
After spreading rapidly to the north and east due to strong winds and becoming the nation's largest wildfire at 413,000 acres, the Bootleg Fire is now 100 per cent contained.
- Julia Fields
WHERE ARE THE FIRES NOW?
A total of 83 blazes raging across the west coast have been worsened by an unprecedented drought and brutal heatwaves that have sparked tinderbox conditions.
Over 19,300 firefighters are battling blazes burning across 13 states, with Montana and Idaho experiencing the brunt of the heat, with 20 active fires in the former and 18 in the latter.
In California alone, over 176,892 acres of land have been burned through, closely trailing Oregon as the second most-affected state.
- Julia Fields
CALDOR FIRE BEGINS
AUGUST 14 – A wildfire started in Caldor, California, prompting mass evacuations and school closures after it tripled in size overnight.
Around 2,500 people were evacuated following blaze warnings.
AUGUST 15 – The blaze, which started after the fire in El Dorado County, grew to about 6,500 acres.
- Julia Fields
HAZE TRAVELING
JULY 15 – As a result of the fires, a haze started to travel all the way to New York and lowered the quality of air along the way.
The Air Quality Index for many states continues to fluctuate between "unhealthy" and "very unhealthy."
JULY 22 – The fires continue to blaze across much of the west coast.
Over 19,300 firefighters battled the flames burning across 13 states, with Montana and Idaho experiencing the brunt of the heat, with 20 active fires in the former and 18 in the latter.
- Julia Fields
JULY 6
Californian wildfires were caused by severe rising heat temperatures across the Western States.
It has been coupled with drought conditions that have been compounded after the state experienced its driest 12 months on record.
They began on July 6 in Oregon.
They have already caused fatalities in 2021, killing two firefighters in neighboring Oregon as the fire ate up 143,607 acres of land.
All together, experts believe that these factors have created a perfect recipe for further devastation this season.
- Julia Fields
BEGINNING IN JANUARY
In January alone, 297 fires burned across 1,171 acres in California.
This is triple the amount the amount of the five-year average.
Wildfires usually start by the heat of the sun causing a small fire to break out in woodlands, which grows as it consumes the flammable material around it.
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