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The Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, declared a state of emergency on Sept. 23, 2020. He wrote a letter to President Donald Trump asking for a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration for the counties of Fresno, Los Angeles, Madera, Mendocino, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Siskiyou due to wildfires.
The high temperatures, strong winds, and little-to-no rain since mid-August have fueled the fires.
The uncontained Glass Fire in Sonoma and Napa Counties has increased from 11,000 acres on Monday to about 42,560 acres on Tuesday. Sonoma county reported that 28 homes and 15 minor structures were damaged, and Napa county reported that 52 homes and 17 minor structures had been destroyed. These numbers are expected to grow.
The wildfires are quickly destroying parts of the Wine Country, which includes Napa, Sonoma, and Calistoga counties. Officials ordered the entire 5,000 population of Calistoga to evacuate.
Two well-known places were taken by combustion — a Michelin 3-star restaurant at Meadowood and the Castello di Amorosa winery.
California has at least 30 active fires; according to the National Fire Interagency Center, the Glass fire is one of the two large blazes that began over the weekend.
The other inferno that started is the Zogg fire. It has torn through at least 40,000 acres in the Shasta County area and has burned at least 146 structures, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).
There are about 18,000 firefighters battling fires in California. Since August 15, more than 8,100 wildfires have covered over 3.7 million acres of the state and have destroyed over 7,000 structures, according to Cal Fire.
Written by Jessica Letcher
Edited by Cathy Milne-Ware
Sources:
Deadline: California Governor Gavin Newsom Declares State Of Emergency in Los Angeles County As Bobcat Fire Burns; Santa Anas, Triple-Digit Temperatures Loom; Tom Tap
CBS News: State of emergency declared in 3 California counties as wildfire scorches wine country
NBC News: Governor Newsom Issues State of Emergency Due to Growing Wildfires; Oscar Flores
Featured and Inset Image Courtesy of Tony Salas’ Flickr Page- Creative Commons License
