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California fires worsen by the day, as the state’s wine country sets ablaze

A fire engine leaves a burning property as the Glass Fire tears through St. Helena, Calif., on Sunday, Sept. 27, 2020. Photo:AP

 

California fires worsen by the day, as the state’s wine country sets ablaze

 

By Patryk Krych | The World Daily | SEPTEMBER 29th 2020

 

A state of emergency was declared in three Californian counties, by Governor Gavin Newsom, following a fresh spread of fires that have burned over a thousand acres of woodland, and claimed three lives, all since Sunday.

Napa, Sonoma and Shasta are the counties in which the state of emergency was declared, popular for their vineyards. It was on Sunday when the flames brutally erupted in the wine regions of Napa-Sonoma, as well as Shasta county, located much further North. Evacuations were prompt, but the loss of life could not be avoided.

Declarations of emergency have various effects on how certain situations will be handled. They lead to evacuation events, greater response times, and in this case are purposed to “assist state and local wildfire response and recovery efforts in the counties of Fresno, Los Angeles, Madera, Mendocino, San Bernardino, San Diego and Siskiyou.”

According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), there is one fire in particular that started on early Sunday, called the Glass fire, that over 1,000 firemen have struggled to contain.

The Glass fire was sparked around 100km North of San Francisco, around Calistoga. It burned through the county vineyards, fanned on by harsh winds and Summer-dried vegetation. Since August 15, at least 7,000 structures, and 26 lives were taken by this historically significant fire season in the US fire records, in which 8,100 California wildfires burned through 14,970sq km.

It was about midway through the year’s grape harvesting season when the Glass fire had struck, forcing many to abandon the wine countries. Chateau Boswell Winery, North of St Helena, had been among the many distinguishing places to end up scorched by the fires.

“There are some who were close to wrapping up, and some who were still planning to leave their grapes hanging out there for a while,” said Teresa Wall, spokeswoman for the Napa Valley Vintners trade group. She added that it’s still not fully known what kind of impact can be expected on the state’s wine industry. At the moment, the many wine vineyards that were forcefully abandoned or engulfed by fires remain just another impact of the climate rampage.

The fires were linked to the growing issue of climate change over the last few years, but this one is said to be the worst on record for the US. The increasing presence of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, in the Earth’s atmosphere is what contributes to the issue, causing greater heat and more dangerous weather patterns. The cycle of destruction ends up perpetuating itself with the spread of fires, as those too end up releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The longer the fire crisis goes on, the worse it may become the following year.

The specific causes of the Glass fires are still being put under investigation. The sparks are suspected to be human-caused, following the most recent devastating fire in the state of Oregon which had been caused by a needlessly destructive gender reveal party.

Thus far, the animal deaths caused by the US fires have gone on unreported. Much like the 3 billion that were lost in the Australia bushfires, the US has also had severe animal losses of foxes, rabbits, deer, frogs, mice, coyotes, and many other animals. Most would have been smoked out of their homes and habitats first, before finding themselves burned to death, or dying in a famished state.

“Wildlife have a long-standing relationship with fire,” said ecosystem ecologist Mazeika Sullivan of the Ohio State University, in a 2014 interview. “Fire is a natural part of these landscapes.”

Many forest species are adapted to the threat of fires, having developed methods of hiding or escaping from them throughout their evolutionary histories. The fires in today, however, are nothing short of disastrous even to these adapted species.

Governor Newsom was said to have sent a letter to US President Donald Trump, asking that he declare the California fire crisis a major disaster. The letter was sent through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and, were the president to follow through on the proposition, a significant improvement in fire response would be seen across the states.

 

By Patryk Krych | © The World Daily 2020

 

 

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North AmericaUSACaliforniaWildfiresFiresGlobal WarmingClimate Change