“Welcome To Hell”: More Than 250,000 Flee Cali Fires As Death Toll Climbs To 11; NWS Warns No Relief In Sight
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Sat, 11/10/2018
Roughly two days after they first exploded into being, the wildfires blazing across California continued to expand on Saturday as firefighters in Butte County in Northern Cali struggled to contain the Camp Fire – now the most destructive blaze in California history – while the Woolsey and Hill fires burning through Los Angeles and Ventura County have driven hundreds of thousands of people out of their homes and torched ritzy neighborhoods in Malibu and other celebrity-friendly strongholds.
Together, the three fires have killed at least 11 people, as the National Weather Service warned that ideal wildfire conditions would persist through mid-week.
Fortunately for the thousands of firefighters battling the blazes, officials said they expect a pause in the Santa Ana winds on Saturday that could offer a break to tamp down the flames before the winds return on Sunday.
Ironically, Thousand Oaks, which was once considered one of the safest cities in the country before a crazed gunman massacred 12 people at a local bar earlier this week, has been surrounded by flames, forcing residents to flee.
One resident told CBS News that the combined impact of the disasters was “devastating” on the town’s collective psyche.
“It’s devastating. It’s like ‘welcome to hell,'” resident Cynthia Ball said about the dual disasters while she was outside the teen center serving as a shelter for evacuees. “I don’t even know what to say. It’s like we’re all walking around kind of in a trance.”
According to the latest figures, the Camp Fire has grown to more than 140 square miles (and more than 100,000 acres) and destroyed more than 6,700 structures, almost all of them homes, making it California’s most destructive wildfire since record-keeping began. As of Saturday morning, it was 20% contained.
Firefighters haven’t discovered the cause of the fire yet. However, Pacific Gas & Electric Company reported that there was a problem on an electrical transmission line near the site of the Camp fire that was reported about 15 minutes before the blaze broke out. The company later discovered damage to a transmission tower near the town of Paradise.
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