SACRAMENTO – Hundreds of lightning-caused wildfires have turned California skies into an unhealthy stew of smoke and ash, forcing the cancellation of athletic events and other outdoor activities across the state.
Air-quality districts from Bakersfield to Redding have issued health advisories through the weekend, urging residents to stay indoors to limit their exposure to the smoky air.
Air-pollution readings in Northern California are two to 10 times the federal standard for clean air, said Dimitri Stanich, a California Air Resources Board spokesman. Some areas experienced the worst air quality on record, with the smoke hanging like a fog down to ground level.
“When you have it on the scale we are seeing now, it is very dangerous to the general public health,” Stanich said. “This is a very serious problem.”
Changing weather brought smoke-clearing breezes and brief relief to some areas yesterday, but it also could bring lightning storms similar to the ones that ignited fires across Northern California a week ago.
Thunderstorms could strike anywhere in the northern Sierra Nevada or the northern Central Valley overnight, but they weren't expected to bring much rain, said Johnnie Powell, a National Weather Service forecaster in Sacramento. The front was expected to pass by today, setting up a second week of abysmal air quality.
The renewed threat of dry lightning and stiffer breezes that could stir the wildfires prompted fire officials to declare a “red-flag warning” – meaning the most extreme fire danger – until 5 a.m. tomorrow for Northern California.
Yesterday, President Bush issued an emergency declaration for California and ordered federal agencies to assist in firefighting efforts in Butte, Mendocino, Monterey, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta and Trinity. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had made the request Friday, saying that wildfires had burned more than 400 square miles.
But California officials said the federal declaration doesn't go far enough. State and local governments also need federal financing to cover their “extraordinary costs in fighting these fires and helping the thousands of Californians who have suffered unimaginable loss and damages,” said Henry Renteria, director of the state Office of Emergency Services.
Federal aid now includes four Marine Corps helicopters, remote sensing of the fires by NASA, federal firefighters and the activation of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“At this point, what we're providing are the immediate resources needed to save lives,” FEMA regional director Bob Fenton said in a conference call with reporters. “If there's additional requirements above and beyond that, I'm sure the state will be bringing that to our attention.”
More than 17,000 firefighters, nearly 1,500 fire engines and bulldozers, and more than 80 helicopters and aircraft were fighting more than 1,000 active fires yesterday, said Kelly Huston, state emergency services spokesman.
“The summer has just begun, and fire conditions will only get tougher,” Ruben Grijalva, director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, warned in a weekly radio address on behalf of the governor.
The wildfires have destroyed 47 structures and injured 85 people, and they continue to threaten nearly 10,000 homes, businesses and outbuildings, Cal Fire said.
Areas hit hardest include Butte County, where 31 fires have burned 19 square miles and threatened 1,200 homes; Mendocino County, where 121 fires have burned 45 square miles and threatened 900 homes; and Shasta and Trinity counties, where about 160 fires have burned 58 square miles and threatened 230 homes.
A wildfire in the Big Sur region of the Los Padres National Forest has burned 42 square miles and destroyed 16 homes. The blaze, which was only 3 percent contained, has forced the closure of a 12-mile stretch of coastal Highway 1 and driven away visitors at the peak of the tourist season.
Farther south in the Los Padres forest, a separate wildfire that started three weeks ago has scorched 92 square miles of remote wilderness. It was 80 percent contained yesterday.
