Wildfires - page 3

Monday: For a second time, a blaze narrowly missed the home of the rancher who inadvertently sparked the Ranch fire. Also: Meet Col. Charles Young.

Five months ago, we brought you the story of the rancher in Mendocino County who inadvertently started the largest wildfire in California history when he hammered a stake into a wasp’s nest.

I was surprised to learn last week that his home nearly burned — again — in the latest round of wind-driven fires in Northern California. Flames from the Burris fire, which was extinguished Nov. 3, scorched the sloping fields around the rancher’s wood-shingled home, coming very close to engulfing the wraparound porch.

Continue Reading on New York Times

The biggest wildfire burning in California grew by 3,000 acres on Tuesday, and crews are bracing for hotter, windier conditions later this week.

The Tucker Fire, in Modoc County, was at 14,217 acres (22 square miles) and 10 percent contained at 6 a.m. Wednesday. At that time, management was handed over to the California interagency fire team.

After an explosive Monday, the spread slowed down and was largely holding within Tuesday’s fire lines. The Wednesday morning report said that, given a forecast of stronger winds and hotter, drier conditions toward the end of the week, crews will prioritize strengthening lines on the northwest and southeast parts of the perimeter.

Continue Reading on The Mercury News

CLEARLAKE, Calif. — Two thousand homes lost and two-thirds of the land burned: The residents of Lake County, a sparsely populated area north of Napa Valley, understand better than most the devastating cost of wildfires in recent years.

Yet few people in Lake County, or in many other fire-prone parts of California, could have anticipated the millions they are now spending this summer on wildfires, even before the first big one ignites.

Continue Reading on New York Times