State of Emergency Declared in N. California Due to Wildfire

Extreme heat puts 36.5 million Californians, or 98% of population, under a heat advisory –NWS

California Governor has issued an emergency declaration for a raging wildfire in Butte County in the northern part of the Golden State.

The so-called Ponderosa Fire has consumed about 3,800 acres and destroyed at least 30 homes, prompting evacuation orders to residents of more than 500 homes in the area, fire officials said.

San Francisco sets all-time heat record at 106 degrees (41.1ºC)

“San Francisco continues to climb. Latest high temperature for downtown is an incredible 106 degrees!” the NWS’s Bay Area station reported Friday.

Previous all-time record high in Downtown #SanFrancisco was 103 set on June 14, 2000. High so far today: 106! #CAwx #CAheatwave

— NWS Bay Area (@NWSBayArea) September 1, 2017

Recap of #BayArea high temperatures on 9/1. San Francisco (106°) and SFO Airport (104°) set all-time record highs. #CAheat #CAwx #heatwave pic.twitter.com/9E9ye7dyfX

— Daniel Alrick (@SFmeteorologist) September 2, 2017

Statewide Wildland Fire Map for Saturday, September 2, 2017 pic.twitter.com/XKL7hgrCgo

— Cal OES (@Cal_OES) September 2, 2017

36.5 million Californians are under a Heat Advisory/Warning this weekend – or about 98% of the state's population. #CAheat #cawx #heatwave pic.twitter.com/cBSboyqysI

— NWS Bay Area (@NWSBayArea) September 1, 2017

Explosive Wildfire Destroys Dozens of Structures, Threatens Hundreds More in N. Calif

Ponderosa Fire consumes 2,500 acres in hours

Ponderosa Fire Incident Information [Cal Fire]
Last Updated: August 30, 2017 9:09 am
Date/Time Started: August 29, 2017 1:16 pm
County: Butte County
Location: Ponderosa way and Lumpkin road, 2 miles NW of Forbestown, about 80 miles north of Sacramento
Acres Burned – Containment: 2,500 acres  – UNCONTAINED
Structures Threatened: 800
Structures Destroyed: 10 residences and 20 outbuildings destroyed, 5 residences and 10 outbuildings damaged

Evacuations: Evacuation Order and Evacuation Warning

US Wildfires

National Interagency Coordination Center
Incident Management Situation Report
Wednesday, August 30, 2017 – 05:30 MT

National Preparedness Level – 5  (on a scale from 1 to 5)

Number of new large fires: 12
Number of active large fires: 59
[Total does not include individual fires within complexes]

States currently reporting large fires: California (9), Colorado (1), Idaho (5), Montana (18), Nevada (3), Oregon (15), Utah (1), Washington (6), Wyoming (1)

Total Active Fires: 110
Cumulative Acres: 845,682
Crews: 481
Engines: 1,116
Helicopters: 167
Total Personnel: 20,924

Fires Year-to-Date: 45,981
Acres Year-to-Date: 6,851,908

Ten Year Average (2007 – 2016 as of today)
Fires: 49,011
Acres: 5,248,077

Canada Fires and Hectares
FIRES YEAR – TO – DATE: 4,837

HECTARES YEAR – TO – DATE:  2,968,679 [7,332,637 acres]

 

Disaster Declared for 142 U.S. Counties

Drought disaster declared in 100 additional counties across 13 states

Fifteen counties in Nebraska have been declared agricultural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by drought, excessive heat and high winds that began March 1, 2012, and continues, USDA reported.

• Those disaster areas are (primary disaster areas)  Gage, Johnson, Nuckolls, Richardson, Jefferson, Nemaha, Pawnee and Thayer counties;  (contiguous disaster areas) Adams, Clay, Fillmore, Lancaster, Otoe, Saline and Webster counties.

Nine counties in bordering states of Kansas and Missouri also designated as  natural disaster areas  because they are contiguous.

• Kansas: Brown, Doniphan, Jewell, Marshall, Nemaha, Republic and Washington counties.

• Missouri: Atchison and Holt counties.

Drought disaster areas have also been declared in California, Nevada and Utah.

U.S. Drought Disaster Map as of August 22, 2012.

• California.  USDA has also designated 6 counties in California and one in bordering Nevada as natural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by the ongoing drought. Those counties are Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Mono and Tuolumne in California, and Douglas County in Nevada.

• Utah.  USDA has designated nine counties in Utah as agricultural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by the ongoing drought. Those counties are (primary disaster areas) Beaver, Iron and Piute counties;  (contiguous disaster areas) Garfield, Millard, Washington, Kane, Sevier and  Wayne counties.

• Idaho.  USDA has designated 17 counties in Idaho as natural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by drought, excessive heat and high winds that began Jan. 1, 2012, and continues.

The Idaho disaster designation also includes 9 counties in 4 bordering states.

• Montana: Beaverhead, Gallatin and Madison counties.
• Nevada: Elko County.
• Utah: Box Elder, Cache and Rich counties.
• Wyoming: Lincoln and Teton counties.

• Kansas.  USDA has designated 5 counties in Kansas as agricultural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by drought, excessive heat, high winds and wildfires that began Jan. 1, 2012, and continues. Those counties are (PDA) Marshall County; and (CDA) Nemaha, Pottawatomie, Riley and Washington counties.

• Indiana.  USDA has designated 5 counties in Indiana as natural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by the recent drought.
• Ohio.  Darke County in Ohio also designated as natural disaster area because it is contiguous.

• Georgia. USDA has designated 12 counties in Georgia as natural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by the recent drought.

• Tennessee.  USDA has designated 13 counties in Tennessee as natural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by the recent drought.

Other Global Disasters/ Significant Events

• United States.  The number of reported West Nile cases nationwide has tripled, with at least 1,118 reported so far this year, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported.
  •  Seventy-five percent of the cases have been reported in five states—Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma,  South Dakota and Texas—with more than a half in Texas.
  • “We are in the midst of one of the worst West Nile virus outbreaks ever seen in the U.S.,” Lyle R. Petersen, director of the Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases at CDC, told reporters.
  • West Nile virus have caused at least 41 fatalities, so far this year.
  • Texas has reported 640 West Nile infections and at least 22 deaths this year.
  • Dallas County, where the mayor declared a health emergency last week, accounts for 270 cases and at least 11 deaths.

• Ohio. The Disaster President has declared a major disaster exists in the State of Ohio in the area affected by severe storms and straight-line winds during the period of June 29 to July 2, 2012.
  • The worst affected areas are in the counties of Adams, Allen, Athens, Auglaize, Belmont, Champaign, Clark, Coshocton, Fairfield, Franklin, Gallia, Guernsey, Hancock, Hardin, Harrison, Highland, Hocking, Jackson, Knox, Lawrence, Licking, Logan, Meigs, Miami, Monroe, Morgan, Morrow, Muskingum, Noble, Paulding, Perry, Pickaway, Pike, Putnam, Shelby, Van Wert, and Washington.

• Oklahoma. The Disaster President has declared a major disaster exists in the State of Oklahoma in the area affected by the Freedom Wildfire during the period of August 3-14, 2012.

• California. California Governor has declared a state of emergency in 3 Northern California counties—Plumas, Shasta and Tehama—due to raging wildfires.
  • Wildfires have destroyed dozens of homes and threaten hundreds more, forcing evacuations and road closures.
  • Ponderosa Fire, which had already consumed about 25,000 acres, destroying more than 85 homes and other structures, was threatening the small community of Mineral, south of Lassen National Volcanic Park.
  • The blaze has already forced about 3,500 people to flee their homes in Tehama and Shasta counties, north of Sacramento.
  • The fire is threatening more than 500 homes and businesses
  • Chips Fire in Plumas County has scorched about 100 square miles since late July and threatens more than 900 homes.

• Idaho.  USDA has designated 34 counties in Idaho as natural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by the combined effects of hail, excessive rain, frost and freezes that occurred from Jan. 1 – July 25, 2012.

The Idaho disaster designation also includes 9 counties in 6 bordering states.

• Montana: Three counties.

• Nevada: One county.

• Oregon: Two counties.

• Utah: Two counties.

• Washington: Two counties.
  

• Wyoming: Two counties.
  

DROUGHT DISASTER

• United States.  Drought conditions continue worsening in key farm states, with 63.20 percent of Continental U.S. experiencing Moderate to Exception Drought condition (D1 to D4 on the U.S. Drought Monitor).

U.S. Drought Map – August 21, 2012. Source: US Drought Monitor.

Related Links

• U.S. Disaster Impact Leaps 24 Folds Posted August 1, 2012
• WARNING: Human impact 2.85 x Earth’s diminishing carrying capacity
• WARNING: RAPID DECLINE IN PROGRESS!

Drought – Recent Links

• U.S. Disaster Areas Expand as Drought Deepens Posted August 1, 2012
• Extreme and Exceptional Drought Spread Across Midwest, South Posted August 2, 2012
• Wildfires Destroy Oklahoma Town Posted August 5, 2012

• Watching Events Unfold, Frame by Frame, Exactly as Forecast Posted July 20, 2012
• Deadly Heat Continues to Devour U.S. Crops Posted July 19, 2012

• Drought Continues to Plague Two-Thirds of Continental U.S. Posted July 17, 2012
• Largest Ever U.S. Disaster Continues Unfolding July 14, 2012
• Drought 2012 Posted on January 8, 2012
• Drought and deluge 

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• Mass Die-offs

• 2010 Disasters [Links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
• Mega Disasters
• 2011 Disaster Calendar
• 2012 Disaster Calendar

Calif Fire Forces Mass Evacuations

Ponderosa fire forces mass evacuations as Shasta County declares state of emergency

Ponderosa fire, a 15,000-acre wildfire southeast of Redding, has destroyed a dozen buildings, threatening 3,600 homes and forcing more than 3,000 people to evacuate, as Shasta County officials declare a state of emergency.

The fire which began in Tehama County on Saturday quickly spread into Shasta County moving north toward the communities of Shingletown and Viola.

Chips Fire, a large wildfire that ignited in the Plumas National Forest on July 29, has grown  to about 70 square miles, threatening several communities, officials said.

• The Plumas County Sheriff said it will issue Mandatory Evacuation Orders for the communities of Canyon Dam and Big Meadows. “Additionally, the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office will escalate to a Voluntary Evacuation for the communities of Almanor and Pratville. West Almanor remains under Advisement,” InciWeb reported.

Rush Fire.  The massive blaze has now consumed about 400 square miles. “The fire is located on Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Northern California District (BLM-CA-NOD,) Eagle Lake Field Office, approximately 15 miles southeast of Ravendale, California. The fire is burning near a major natural gas line and transfer station, and power transmission lines that supply the Reno area and adjacent to Highway 395.”

Reading Fire.  The blaze in the Lassen Volcanic National Park, sparked by lightning on July 23, has grown to about 50 square miles, and is reportedly 50 percent contained.

• Lightning strikes have sparked at least a dozen fires across the state since Friday.

Ramsey Fire, a 1,200-acre blaze located 8 miles East of Dorrington (Hwy 4). Photo: InciWeb.

Other Global Disasters/ Significant Events

Idaho, USA.  Authorities ordered the evacuation of Featherville, a small mountain resort in Idaho, as smoke from the Trinity Ridge Fire in the Boise National Forest blanketed the surrounding areas raising health concerns and reducing visibility.

• The blaze, which started on August 3, has consumed about 90,000 acres and was less than 5 percent contained, as of posting.

See also: U.S. Wildfires Burning 2M Acres Across 11 States Posted August 17, 2012

Related Links

• U.S. Disaster Impact Leaps 24 Folds Posted August 1, 2012
• WARNING: Human impact 2.85 x Earth’s diminishing carrying capacity
• WARNING: RAPID DECLINE IN PROGRESS!

Drought – Recent Links

• U.S. Disaster Areas Expand as Drought Deepens Posted August 1, 2012
• Extreme and Exceptional Drought Spread Across Midwest, South Posted August 2, 2012
• Wildfires Destroy Oklahoma Town Posted August 5, 2012

• Watching Events Unfold, Frame by Frame, Exactly as Forecast Posted July 20, 2012
• Deadly Heat Continues to Devour U.S. Crops Posted July 19, 2012

• Drought Continues to Plague Two-Thirds of Continental U.S. Posted July 17, 2012
• Largest Ever U.S. Disaster Continues Unfolding July 14, 2012
• Drought 2012 Posted on January 8, 2012
• Drought and deluge 

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• Mass Die-offs

• 2010 Disasters [Links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
• Mega Disasters
• 2011 Disaster Calendar
• 2012 Disaster Calendar