California is grappling with yet another weather-driven disaster as a wildfire propelled by hurricane-force gusts rages south of Los Angeles, with dangerous conditions expected to persist across the precariously-dry state. The Silverado fire, burning on the hills above Irvine, grew to 7,200 acres in just hours Monday and forced more than 90,000 residents to flee. Two firefighters were gravely injured in the blaze, the largest and fastest-moving of more than two dozens fires that erupted as high winds swept across California.
“We’re dealing with extreme wind and erratic fire behavior,” Orange County Fire Authority Captain Greg Barta said during a media briefing. Wind gusts and bone-dry conditions had made for some of the most threatening weather California has seen since the Camp Fire erupted in 2018, killing 85 people. They’re also the latest blow for a state that’s been battered by a succession of heat waves, power outages and wildfires that have burned a record 4.1 million acres this year.
While the winds may improve somewhat Tuesday, it will still be perilous in many parts of the state. Nearly 23,000 square miles of California, including the cities of Sacramento, Santa Ana, Anaheim, Riverside, and Stockton, will experience critical conditions, according to the U.S. Storm Prediction Center. About 14.2 million people live in this area.
In Orange County, the Silverado fire was fanned by winds that topped 70 miles per hour. The county also is battling the Blue Ridge fire, which has burned about 1,120 acres and spurred evacuations in Yorba Linda.
Edison International, which owns the electric utility that serves Irvine, filed a report Monday with state regulators saying it appeared a wire attached to a telecommunications line may have come in contact with one of its power lines, possibly starting the Silverado fire. The cause remains under investigation, and the company is cooperating with authorities, a spokesman said.
Edison shares fell 3.8% Monday.
The blazes came even after Edison, PG&E Corp. and other utilities cut power in some areas to prevent live wires from falling into dry brush during the windstorms. PG&E, the state’s largest utility, imposed the most widespread outages, cutting power to about 355,000 homes and businesses.
A TV news reporter in the darkened Montclair Village neighborhood of Oakland, California on Oct. 15.
Photographer: Jessica Christian/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
PG&E restored power to about 95,000 customers as of 6 p.m. local time Monday. The company estimated that about 200,000 homes and businesses will remain switched off overnight as winds pick up again in areas such as the North Bay and the Sierra Nevada mountains.
Edison turned off electricity to about 38,400 homes and businesses in Southern California, and said another 96,000 customers could loser power as well. High wind warnings are in effect for Southern California through Tuesday night.
The Silverado fire grew rapidly after erupting Monday, shutting roads and forcing nearby schools to evacuate. More than 500 firefighters are battling the blaze. The injured firefighters suffered burns over 65% and 50% of their bodies, officials said at a Monday afternoon briefing.
Most of the two dozen or so fires that have erupted in California in recent days have been in the northern half of the state. Firefighters have managed to quickly bring nearly all of them under contro