Gov. Newsom declares statewide emergency due to fires, extreme weather
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has declared a statewide emergency as wildfires and extreme weather conditions forced almost 200,000 people from their homes.
He said in a statement Sunday that officials are deploying “every resource available” to respond to the wildfires.
The Kincade Fire, which has already destroyed 79 structures north of San Francisco Bay, is now threatening 31,175 other homes or other buildings, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.
About 180,000 people in Sonoma County are under evacuation orders, the Sheriff’s Office said.
“This is the largest evacuation that any of us at the Sheriff’s Office can remember,” the department tweeted. “Take care of each other.”
Firefighters in the East Bay stopped forward progress of several wind-whipped wildfires that erupted early Sunday morning on Bethel Island and near Oakley in rural Contra Costa County.
However a new fire in Clayton forced new evacuation orders at around 8 a.m.
Two brush fires erupted along Interstate Highway 80 near Crockett on Sunday, prompting an immediate evacuation notice for residents of the unincorporated town, the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Department said in an advisory.
The fire forced the freeway to close and the California State University Maritime Academy to issue an evacuation order.
In the Los Angeles area, “critical fire weather conditions are in place across Southern California today as winds ramp up across the region this evening,” CNN meteorologist Haley Brink said.
The Tick Fire, which is burning near Santa Clarita, had destroyed at least 22 structures and was threatening 10,000 more, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said Sunday.
In an effort to avert any more wildfires, Pacific Gas & Electric has shut off power to 960,000 customers, PG&E said Sunday.
But the number of actual people without power is higher, since electric customers include houses and businesses.
Residents in parts of 38 counties in the Northern and Southern Sierra Foothills, the North Bay and Mendocino, the Bay Area, the Central Coast and the Central Valley are part of the rolling blackouts, the company said.
