Record temperatures, raging fires, a strained power grid: California heat wave in full effect

[bob user]

An ordinary summer heat spell spun into a disaster. This is absolutely
nothing new to California, yet the woke cowards and media act as though
the planet just split in half.

A monster came to life in the rolling hills of northwestern Los Angeles
County, belching smoke and flames amid triple-digit heat that has forced
officials to call for voluntary energy conservation across California in
hopes of preventing rolling blackouts.

In less than 24 hours, the Route fire charred more than 5,000 acres near
Castaic, though it appeared that crews were beginning to turn a corner
Thursday.

The blaze, which ignited Wednesday afternoon, was holding at 5,208 acres
Thursday night, according to the L.A. County Fire Department. Containment
increased from 12% in the morning to 27% around 7:30 p.m.

By 1 p.m., all evacuation orders were lifted and residents were allowed to
return to their homes.

Crews also made progress on a second major blaze, the Border 32 fire in
San Diego County, which remained at 4,438 acres and was 14% contained
Thursday night, according to the California Department of Forestry and
Fire Protection.

Near the Route fire, temperatures soared to 111 degrees Thursday, said Tom
Fisher, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard,
citing data from a Southern California Edison gauge near Castaic Lake.

The heat pummeled fire crews working to contain the blaze.

Officials took the unusual step Thursday of pulling back some of the
firefighters on the front lines after seven crew members were taken to
hospitals for heat-related illness.

Fire officials said all of the firefighters had been treated and released
as of Thursday morning.

The order to pull back, a fire official said, was to reduce the risk to
firefighters tackling the most grueling tasks as temperatures soared.
Instead, crews would focus on an aerial assault.

“It’s a tactical pause for the crews that are experiencing the greatest
heat impact,” Los Angeles County Deputy Fire Chief Thomas C. Ewald said.
“We’re just trying to reduce the strain being placed on line
firefighters.”

As of Thursday night, the Route fire had destroyed two structures and was
threatening 550 more, fire officials said.

The heat wave is expected to last into next week, perhaps as late as
Wednesday, bringing high temperatures to both inland and coastal areas and
heightening fire dangers.

“It should be a wake-up call to us all,” said U.S. Forest Service Fire
Chief Robert Garcia. “The days ahead are going to be very challenging.”

It’s rare for fire officials to pull back resources, especially when high
temperatures increase the threat of fires, but Ewald said that “the No. 1
threat right now is to our firefighters. We want to back off the intensity
a little bit.”

“For our folks that are out there, they don’t have the opportunity to go
into an air-conditioned environment,” Ewald said. “They’re on the line,
they’re not in the shade. Their No. 1 tool is hydration and preparation.”

More than 500 personnel were assigned to the Route fire as of Thursday
night, fire officials said. There were 11 hand crews, 58 fire engines, 10
bulldozers, eight helicopters and two fixed-wing aircraft.

But the heat wave and extreme fire conditions across the state also
threatened to spread resources thin. Fire officials made sure to launch
aircraft early Thursday morning, mindful that they could be diverted to
the Border 32 fire, which was threatening homes near the U.S.-Mexico
border.

Low humidity, excessive heat and steep terrain also threatened responders’
efforts.

The Route fire was first reported along the 5 Freeway near Lake Hughes
Road just after noon Wednesday, leading to full lane closures in both
directions.

As of Thursday night, two northbound lanes between Lake Hughes Road and
Templin Highway had reopened and two remained closed, according to the
California Department of Transportation. On the freeway’s southbound side,
three lanes were open and one lane was closed.

The blaze also led to evacuation orders for north of Northlake Hills
Elementary School and south of Templin Highway. The orders were lifted by
Thursday afternoon, welcomed news for residents fleeing the fire and
looking to still escape the scorching heat.

Cesar Constantino, 48, and his wife weren’t in their Paradise Ranch
Estates mobile home when the fire started Wednesday, but their phones
started ringing with calls from neighbors warning them about the
approaching flames.

Their three kids grabbed the family’s important documents, their dog,
Jokey, and their two Guinea pigs and headed to the Red Cross evacuation
center at West Ranch High School for the night.

Constantino and nearly 40 others spent the night in the gym, where they
struggled with no air conditioning. On Thursday afternoon, he sat near the
front of the gym where residents were to check in, the only place with a
working air-conditioning unit.

Instead, the shelter is equipped with four large fans to keep people cool.
Some residents opted to sleep in their cars in the parking lot.

On Thursday morning, the property manager warned Constantino electricity
and water were still off at the mobile home park.

“We need air conditioning,” he said. “Maybe we’ll get to go back tonight.”

Capt. Mark McCurdy with Los Angeles County Station 149 and his crew were
the first on the scene of the fire Wednesday when they saw it quickly
spreading on grass on the northbound side of the 5 Freeway.

Even then, the heat took a toll on the firefighters.

“I’ve done this for a little while now and yesterday was even tough on
me,” he said. “A day like yesterday, you still push as hard as you would
on a regular day, but it just makes it tougher.”

The punishing heat, meanwhile, continued to bear down on communities
around the Southland.

Lancaster, Palmdale and Sandberg set or matched record highs for Sept. 1,
with some of the records falling after more than 70 years.

Lancaster saw a high of 112 degrees Thursday, surpassing the previous
daily high of 110 set in 1950; Sandberg’s high of 99 broke the 1996 record
of 97 degrees; and Palmdale matched its daily record of 109, originally
set in 1947.

Meteorologists with the National Weather Service in Oxnard said
temperatures could dip by 5 to 10 degrees Friday, but the reprieve will be
brief; daily records could be set Sunday in the Los Angeles County
valleys, the Antelope Valley and San Luis Obispo County mountains, the
weather service said.

It was the second day of record-setting heat in the Los Angeles area.

On Wednesday, Woodland Hills reached 112 degrees, breaking the previous
record for the date of 111 degrees set in 1998, according to the National
Weather Service.

Burbank’s high of 112 for Wednesday broke the previous daily record of 108
degrees set in 2017, and Sandberg reached 100 degrees that day, exceeding
the previous high of 98 degrees, also in 2017, the weather service said.

Faced with increased demand for electricity, the California Independent
System Operator, which manages the power grid, extended a Flex Alert into
Friday.

During a Flex Alert, consumers are urged to reduce their electricity use
from 4 to 9 p.m., when the grid is most stressed because of high demand
and less available energy from solar panels.

Flex Alerts were also issued Wednesday and Thursday. The heat wave is
expected to extend well into next week.

Authorities are worried about power capacity in part because high
temperatures are forecast not just across inland regions that typically
broil this time of year, but also along many parts of the coast.

That could mean many more people turning on their air conditioners during
peak hours.

Officials are asking Californians to limit electricity use when possible
to minimize strain on the state’s energy providers, otherwise risking
rolling blackouts. Losing power during such extreme heat can be highly
dangerous, if not deadly, especially for the most vulnerable.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-09-01/route-fire-california-
severe-heat-wave-castaic