Camp Fire

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The Camp Fire as captured by the Landsat 8 satellite on November 8, 2018

The Camp Fire was a forest fire that broke out in Butte County , Northern California on the morning of November 8, 2018 . It is named after the location of the eruption, Camp Creek Road . In a matter of hours, it developed into the deadliest and most devastating forest fire in California history . Fanned by strong winds and encouraged by unusually dry weather conditions, the fire spread rapidly and trapped many people fleeing the flames. According to official figures, an estimated 6,713 buildings had been destroyed by the morning of November 10 local time, making the Camp Fire the last year's Tubbs Fire as the most destructive forest fire in California. By the morning of November 13th, at least 42 people were killed, which also replaced the Griffith Park Fire of 1933 as the forest fire with the highest number of fatalities (up to then: 29). By November 14, 9:00 a.m. PST (6:00 p.m. CET ), 6 more bodies were found, while the area of ​​the previously burned forest area amounted to around 55,000 hectares . In the late afternoon, after further corpses were found, the number of dead rose to 59. In the following days, the number of deaths was corrected upwards every day. The extinguishing work to contain the fire was supported by the onset of heavy rain from November 22, but continued. As of November 25, 2018, Cal Fire , the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection , designated the fire as contained. According to official information, 86 civilians were killed in the fire and 3 firefighters were injured. A total of 62,053 hectares of forest area was burned, 14,500 buildings and 4,293 smaller structures were destroyed and another 564 buildings were damaged.

Course of the fire

Fire damage along Humboldt Road in Chico
The San Francisco skyline as viewed from the Presidio during Camp Fires

The camp fire erupted at sunrise on November 8, 2018 and was first sighted near Pulga in Butte County , Northern California at 6:33 a.m. PST . The first fire fighters from the fire brigade arrived after 10 minutes, but reported that the flames were already spreading rapidly due to the extreme drought and strong winds. The National Weather Service had at this time for most of northern and southern California Red flag warning issued - a warning due to major forest fires. The evacuation of the cities of Paradise and Concow has started. Because the fire spread quickly, many residents could not leave the cities of Concows and Paradise in time. From then on, the fire brigade concentrated on rescuing the residents, fighting the fire did not promise any success. Scott McLean of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection later spoke of an almost complete destruction of Paradise.

Later on, the Magalia and Yankee Hill communities were also evacuated. Numerous other municipalities, including Chico and Oroville , were threatened by the fire. Residents of the city of Sacramento , capital of the US state of California, have been told not to leave their homes because of the heavy air pollution from the smoke from Camp Fire.

causes

US President Donald Trump blamed “poor forest management” on Twitter for the extent of the natural disaster, and threatened the withdrawal of state funds. Brian K. Rice, President of the California Professional Fire Brigade, denied the allegations, calling them "poorly informed". The cause of the fire was investigated as a possible technical defect in a power line belonging to the utility company Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), below which the fire is said to have started. An investigative report from the California Forestry and Fire Protection Agency (CAL Fire) confirmed the belief that PG&E power lines started the fire.

See also

Web links

Commons : Camp Fire  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 'It's going to get worse': Officials fear many more deaths from California wildfires that have already claimed 59 lives. In: ABC News , November 14, 2018, accessed November 15, 2018.
  2. ↑ Camp Fire Incident Update Date: 11/25/2018 Time: 7:00 am ( English , PDF; 292 KB) Cal Fire . November 25, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  3. ^ Paradise, Calif., Destroyed By Wildfire, Authorities Say. In: NPR , November 9, 2018, accessed November 11, 2018.
  4. ^ Trump blames poor forest management for California fires, threatens to revoke funding. In: The Mercury News , November 10, 2018, accessed November 15, 2018.
  5. ^ PG&E: Power line had problems ignited before Camp Fire. In: San Francisco Chronicle , November 10, 2018, accessed November 15, 2018.
  6. ↑ It was the power lines In: tagesschau.de, May 16, 2019, accessed on May 16, 2019.