Northern California Wildfires Destroy Thousands of Acres of Land
4 0 people have died and hundreds are missing as 22 different wildfires burned an estimated 217,000 acres of land in California. As of Wednesday, October 11, 2017, 3 days after the fires started, more than 20,000 evacuations had been made, 8,000 firefighters were working to stop the fires, and at least 3,500 structures have been damaged or destroyed. Fires started Sunday October 8, 2017, with extremely dry weather conditions. Low humidity and heavy winds made it easy for the fires to spread quickly, and no rain was forecasted for the region in the days that followed, fueling the fires. More than a week later, dozens of fires still burn. Now, 75,000 evacuations have been made and 5,700 structures have been destroyed, but situations are looking better. As of Sunday, October 15, 2017, 3 of the biggest fires, the Atlas fire, the Nuns fire, and the Tubbs fire are becoming contained. The Atlas fire of the Napa and Solano counties is about 65% contained. The Nuns fire of Sonoma County is 40% contained and the Tubbs fire, also of Sonoma County, is about 60% contained. Two Wisconsin natives were identified as two of many killed in the fires. 100-year-old Charles and 98-year-old Sara Rippey were originally from Hartford Wisconsin. Having met in elementary school, the couple just celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary. Charles’s body was found supposedly heading to help Sara out of the house as it was taken over by flames. Mike Rippey, Charles and Sarah’s son, and his siblings said "We knew there's no way they would ever be happy, whoever was the last one. So they went together, and that's the way it worked." Evacuation orders are being lifted, and residents are now being allowed back into towns. Officials are telling returning citizens to be cautious. As citizens return, traffic jams could potentially be dangerous and traffic will be slow. Sharp objects will be among the remains, and toxic chemicals may be released into the air while sifting through debris.
