Northern California was in the grip of a Wildfire that forced evacuation of thousands of people and power shutoffs by utility companies. The blaze devastated large areas of San Fernando Valley’s northern foothills and grew stronger once fanned by Santa Ana winds. One utility company disconnected electricity to a section of people in affected counties. These included los angeles, Ventura, San Bernardino, Kern, and they cautioned about more possible breakdowns of the power supply.
The source of the Saddleridge wildfire was in Sylmar and led to the closure of a number of highways.
Damage to the Environment will be irreparable because the loss of trees due to fire would mean loss of greenery and loss of habitat for birds. This wildfire destroyed more than 7,500 acres by Friday evening and California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, lost no time in declaring a state of emergency.
The Guardian mentioned about one casualty. He was a middle-aged man who suffered a cardiac arrest and died. One of the firefighters suffered an eye injury. The sudden wildfire took everyone by surprise and left behind a trail of destruction. The result was mandatory evacuations of about 100,000 people from danger zones. Many homes in Granada Hills went up in flames with the Los Angeles fire department saying there were potential threats to an “unknown number” of homes.
UPDATE: The fire is burning at a rate of 800 acres per hour. One firefighter suffered a minor injury to his eye and a man died after going into cardiac arrest while talking with firefighters. https://t.co/91JIz3XmQT
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) October 11, 2019
It is difficult to tackle any wildfire
Wildfire is unpredictable and can happen from natural causes or through carelessness.
It is always difficult to pinpoint the source or the agency responsible. In this case in northern California, the utility company PG&E plays an important role. It had disconnected power to an estimated 2 million people in northern California. This was because of fears that the situation could be aggravated due to strong winds.
It has begun to restore power on a selective basis.
Semi trucks wait for miles on California's I-5 as the raging Saddleridge fire shutters major Southern California highways. https://t.co/LxKr3hxoGp pic.twitter.com/PW97nEVwWI
— ABC News (@ABC) October 11, 2019
The Guardian describes a few situations that utility companies should note. It seems wildfires can originate from trees getting uprooted and falling on power lines. The presence of such trees near to power lines can be dangerous and they must be cleared. A fire in 2018 left 85 people dead and the town of Paradise went up in smoke. The fault was with outdated infrastructure.
Firefighters are battling the blaze
According to CNN, the wildfire in northern Los Angeles has destroyed 31 homes and burned more than 7,500 acres.
The Los Angeles Fire Department added that firefighters are battling the blaze, and confirms it remains partially contained as of Friday. The fire spread due to a combination of strong Santa Ana winds coupled with low humidity.
The Saddleridge fire is just one of several in Southern California and the cause is not yet established. Poor quality of air in Los Angeles forced many schools to cancel classes. Life, in short, was disturbed in the regions affected by the fire and the loss of infrastructure will have a cascading effect on the lives of people as well as on the environment.