Woman killed, 400 homes destroyed by California wildfire
A Northern California wildfire ranked as the most destructive to hit the drought-stricken US West this year has killed one woman and burned some 400 homes to the ground, fire officials said on September 14, and they expect the property toll to climb.
The so-called Valley Fire erupted on September 12 and spread quickly to a cluster of small communities in the hills and valleys north of Napa County's wine-producing region, forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents.
Evacuated residents recounted chaotic ordeals of having to flee their homes through gauntlets of flame.
By September 14 afternoon, the blaze had devoured about 61,000 acres (24,690 hectares) of tinder-dry forests, brush and grasslands, and was only about 5% contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).
About 40,000 acres (16,190 hectares) of the landscape were consumed in the first 12 hours of the fire at the peak of its intensity on September 12 and early September 13, stoked by high winds.
Fire officials described the rapid initial rate of spread as nearly unprecedented, a consequence of vegetation desiccated by four years of drought and weeks of extreme summer heat.
Four firefighters were hospitalized with second-degree burns in the early hours of the blaze on September 12.
Cal Fire field battalion chief Mike Smith said the blaze was still progressing, though its intensity was diminished by a weather phenomenon known as an inversion layer that had settled over the area.
Still, efforts to combat the blaze remained hampered by thick smoke which has grounded water-dropping helicopters and airplane tankers, he said. More than 1,400 firefighters have been assigned to the blaze.
The communities of Cobb, Middletown, Hidden Valley Lake and the Harbin Hot Springs resort - located about 50 miles (80k) west of Sacramento, the state capital - were reported to be hardest hit by the fire. Many residents were chased from their homes with little or no warning.
Cal Fire on September 14 reported that some 1,000 structures had been lost, at least 400 of them homes. The bulk of the destruction is believed to have occurred on September 12.