California, which currently has the highest number of Covid -19 infected, face one of the fires most voracious in its history, faced with a dismal weather forecast that does not indicate probabilities of rain in the next few days.
A resident of the city of San José (Silicon Valley area) woke up on Friday with an alert of possible immediate evacuation. While dealing with the desperation of having to leave her home, she encountered the paradox of being transferred to an evacuation center with hundreds of strangers at a time where maintaining social distance is crucial to avoid contagion of COVID-19.
Although the fires are scattered throughout the territory, the zThe most committed areas are the San Francisco Bay Area and Napa, Lake, Solano and Sonoma counties., mainly dedicated to the wine industry due to its dry climate.
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How the fire started
The weather conditions of the last week triggered the catastrophe: a thunderstorm that caused 12,000 lightning strikes coincided with a strong heat wave that had hit California for several days.
This situation, added to the geographical and climatic characteristics as large areas of drought land, constant winds and easily flammable vegetation, make the area a favorable setting for forest fires. Furthermore, as a consequence of climate change, the summers are getting hotter and longer, which makes it even more difficult to extinguish the fire sources.
In areas not reached by flames, negative effects of fires are also felt. For example, air quality is one of the problems faced by the inhabitants of San Francisco since for several days the city was invaded by a screen of smoke and ash.
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There, most homes do not have air conditioners, since average summer temperatures range between 18 and 20 degrees. “Opening a window is enough to cool the environment, but now we can’t do it because the circulating air has harmful particles that cause red eyes and dry throat,” explained a resident who lives near the Embarcadero area.
Climate change hits the length and breadth of California. The last few days in the National Park of Death Valley (Valley Death), one of the hottest places in the world, a record temperature of almost 55 degrees was recorded, one of the highest on Earth in the last 90 years.
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Measures to stop the fire
After stating that extinguishing resources are depleted as new fires continue to be lit, California Governor Gavin Newsom decreed the health emergency to also have the military and police forces in the evacuation and fire control tasks.
At the opposite political extreme, the President Donald Trump he had initially ignored requests for help from the governor of the main east coast state. However, the White House took a turn in its attitude and recently signed a cooperation plan with the Newson government, which had also requested international assistance given the magnitude of the situation.
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At this time, fire crews are working day and night to quell the fire while being supported by helicopters seeking to fight fire from the air. All fighting in an unequal fight where nature shows its most violent side.
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* Noelia Lilli is Argentine, a journalist and has lived in San Francisco since 2017.
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