December 7, 2017



Thomas fire: Thousands of acres burn in Ventura County



Four wildfires are raging across California ... in December

 The Skirball Fire, which started near Interstate 405, is consuming mansions in the expensive area. Rupert Murdoch's vineyard estate is dangerously close to the fast moving fire and was completely covered in smoke as of Wednesday afternoon
  • It’s December, and wildfires are still raging through Southern California, extending what is already the state’s worst fire season on record. [Vox / Umair Irfan]
  • No deaths have been reported, but four wildfires near Los Angeles have burned tens of thousands of acres and forced at least 120,000 people to evacuate their homes. [CNBC / Michael Sheetz] 
  • The fires have burned hundreds of homes and other buildings, and the flames are wreaking havoc on people’s commutes, as they’ve jumped over highways. One even spread all the way to the Pacific Ocean. [LA Times / Ruben Vives, Laura Nelson, Sarah Parvini, Matt Hamilton, and Sonali Kohli] 
  • Firefighters work to save burning houses along Linda Flora Drive during the Skirball Fire in Los Angeles. Forecasters say that the fire is likely to continue spreading 
  • These fires come just a month after devastating blazes in Northern California’s wine region burned homes and wineries to the ground. [Washington Post / Mark Berman and Eli Rosenberg] 
  • Fires in December are rare; these ones are being driven by unusually strong Santa Ana winds, which are gusting up to 70 miles per hour and propelling flames over the hilly landscape. The winds are making it especially difficult for firefighters to contain the blaze. [Vox / Umair Irfan] 
  • Part of the reason California’s fires are so bad and so much property is being lost is because highly populated areas are also areas where fire danger is bad. And so far, development in these areas shows no signs of stopping. [Vox / Umair Irfan] 
  • Flames from the Thomas wildfire leap perilously close to traffic on Highway 101, which is north of the badly affected Ventura area of Southern California
The Thomas Fire - the largest of the five fires - is four times the size of Manhattan.
It's growing at an acre per second - meaning it would envelop Manhattan's Central Park in just 15 minutes. 

Nearly 200,000 people have been told to evacuate their homes. 

At least 184 structures have been destroyed - 150 by the Thomas Fire. 

The fires are being stoked by the hot, dry Santa Ana winds - which are averaging 50-70mph, but could have gusts of 80mph. They haven't been this numerous or this fast in 10 years.

Terrifying: Paris Hilton had to have her pets evacuated as she gives her thanks to the many fire fighters working hard to save property and protect lives