California Wildfires Burn 10,000 Acres in a Single Day

Climate

Smoke from the Glass Fire rises from the hills on September 27, 2020 in Calistoga, California. Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Just days after a new report detailed the “unequivocal and pervasive role” climate change plays in the increased frequency and intensity of wildfires, new fires burned 10,000 acres on Sunday as a “dome” of hot, dry air over Northern California created ideal fire conditions over the weekend.


In Napa County, the Glass Fire burned more than 2,500 acres, forcing at least 2,000 residents and a hospital to evacuate and threatening about 2,200 structures.

The fire tore through vineyards and jumped two rivers Sunday evening and was zero percent contained as of late Sunday night.

“It’s a cremation,” Craig Battuello, whose family has raised grapes in St. Helena for more than a century, told KPIX.

As of Monday morning, the Shady and Boysen Fires, burning near the Sonoma-Napa county line were believed to be spot fires from the Glass Fire.

Further north, the Zogg Fire had burned 7,000 acres as of Sunday evening.

Electricity will be shut off for 65,000 Northern California customers in 16 counties to prevent the spread of the fires.

For a deeper dive:

Increased frequency and intensity: BBC, E&E; Weekend conditions: Washington Post, The Guardian, San Francisco Chronicle; Fires: CNN, KPIX, San Francisco Gate, CBS, The Press Democrat, San Francisco Chronicle, ABC-7 KGO News, Mercury News, KRCR, SFist, San Francisco Chronicle, Weather Channel; Climate signals background: Wildfires, 2020 Western wildfire season

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