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The death toll from Northern California's wildfires now stands at 15, officials say, with a total of nine confirmed fatalities in Sonoma County. The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office said on its Twitter page that the number of dead had increased from seven to nine. Three others are dead in Mendocino County, two more in Napa and one in Yuba, officials say. In Sonoma County, more than 200 people have been reported missing, and 45 of those have since been located, officials said.
The fires have burned 115,000 acres statewide and destroyed at least 2,000 homes and businesses, Cal Fire Ken Pimlott said Tuesday. More than 4,000 emergency workers have been deployed to help battle the fires, including a massive effort at McClellan Air Park, where a record 45 missions were flown Monday that dumped 266,000 acres of retardant on the blazes.
Vice President Mike Pence visited the state's emergency operations center at Mather Air Park Tuesday and announced that President Trump had approved the state's request for federal assistance in the counties of Butte, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Nevada, Sonoma, and Yuba.
Also at CNN, The Washington Post, KQED, LA Times, and NPR.
(Score: 2) by Kromagv0 on Wednesday October 11 2017, @01:11PM
What I am wondering is how long has it been since these areas have burned or been cleared of undergrowth? This seems to be a problem in CA where the dead undergrowth has accumulated for decades because every small fire was suppressed and no one logged out an area out so now 50 years later we end up with fires that cause massive devastation. It was either the fires last year or the year before where there was a bad on and it was mentioned that the area hadn't been burned or cut in the last 70 years. That sort of thing seems to be a problem in a lot of these places and they really need to practice fuel management by getting the dead stuff out and clearing some of the undergrowth.
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