A fire that broke out on Sunday in northern California, the "Glass Fire", continues to devastate the prestigious wine region of Napa Valley where many areas have been severely affected.
At least a dozen wineries, often upscale, were victims of the flames and the fire was only 2% contained on Wednesday after having already covered some 20,000 hectares of vegetation.
Alameda County firefighters face 'Glass Fire'
Firefighters shared first-person footage of their efforts battling the massive Glass Fire in Northern California - protecting homes, wineries and livestock while navigating an actively burning landscape.
https://t.co/djBodtXP8b pic.twitter.com/Mqoly78k9S
- ABC News (@ABC) October 1, 2020
Thick smoke hung over the valley and a series of blackened buildings, some reduced to ruins, such as the installations of the Castello di Amorosa estate, a copy of a medieval Italian castle, the stones of which had been specially imported from Europe.
Tens of thousands of evacuations
“We keep our spirits up.
We have gone through difficult times recently with the coronavirus and other fires, ”confided one of the managers of the estate, Madeleine Reid, surrounded by the still smoking remains of the“ castle ”.
"We just hope that all will be well for our neighbors," she added.
Tens of thousands of residents have been evacuated in recent days because of the fire, which is also affecting the nearby Sonoma Valley.
Calistoga, a small town famous for its wine tourism, was deserted Wednesday, almost cut off from the world by flames.
“Maybe the bright side is that the fire is not inside the city, but around us,” said its mayor, Chris Canning.
In total, the "Glass Fire" destroyed more than 80 homes, a still unknown number of commercial places, and threatens more than 20,000 other buildings, according to the firefighters of California.
Some 2,000 firefighters are deployed on the ground, where the weather forecast raises fears of a return of the dry winds that fanned the flames last weekend.
Newsletter - Most of the news
Every morning, the news seen by Le Parisien
I'm registering
Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to enable you to receive our news and commercial offers.
Learn more
Napa County Deputy Sheriff Films 'Glass Fire' During Evacuation
Glass Fire: Never wait til the last second to evacuate.
This video is from Deputy Matt Macomber, one of several deputies currently evacuating parts of Napa County.
pic.twitter.com/YQXFirJ0aV
- Napa County Sheriff's Office (@NapaSheriff) September 27, 2020
About 300 km north of Napa Valley, another fire, dubbed "Zogg Fire", claimed its fourth victim: a man, evacuated by helicopter on Sunday, at the very beginning of the disaster, and who succumbed to his burns, according to Shasta County Sheriff Eric Magrini.
Both fires are fueled by strong, very dry winds that blew through the area over the past weekend.
Local authorities and scientists are highlighting the role of climate change, which is exacerbating chronic drought and causing extreme weather conditions in the western United States.
Denying any influence of global warming, Donald Trump regularly calls into question poor forest management, in particular the presence of dead trees on the ground.
"Every year, they call me to tell me: 'California is burning, California is burning'", but "if it was cleaned up, if there was forest management, we would not have this kind of calls ”, said the president Tuesday evening during the televised debate which opposed him to Joe Biden…
Since the start of the season, the thousands of fires that have broken out in California have killed 30 people and devastated nearly 16,000 km2 of forests.
The state is currently plagued by 27 fires, which mobilize 18,000 firefighters.
Glass Fire threatening a vineyard in Calistoga, Monday September 28 / CINDI FREDIANI via REUTERS.
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/A3CIAJJPYZJHVDEJJ5NWRRSTFM.jpg)
