NONE of the nearly 18,000 Filipinos in Napa Valley and surrounding counties has been reported among the 10 casualties of the wildfires raging in California’s wine country, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.
In New York, visiting Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said (Tuesday in Manila): “We express our sympathies to the loved ones of those who lost their lives and their homes as a result of the wildfires.
“We pray that our kababayans and other residents in the affected areas be kept safe and their homes spared from the fires.”
The Philippine Consul General in San Francisco Henry Bensurto Jr. said his office was closely monitoring the situation and coordinating with local authorities and the Filipino Community to check on the condition of Filipinos in the affected areas.
The Consulate General reported that 15 separate fires had broken out and affected over 73,000 acres (29,500 hectares).
The fires destroyed 1,500 structures and caused the evacuation of an estimated 20,000 residents. Smoke and ashes reached as far south as San Francisco and Oakland due to wind direction and gust.
wind-whipped flames that have killed at least 10 people, torched more than 2,000 homes and businesses and sent more than 20,000
people fleeing for safety. At least 15 separate blazes burned in nine Northern California counties,
prompting evacuations that included patients in threatened hospitals. AFP
“We continue to reach out to Filipino community organizations in the affected areas, particularly in the Napa and Sonoma counties, to ascertain their condition,” Bensurto said.
“We have also disseminated through our social media platforms the advisories issued by local and state authorities,” he added.
There are an estimated 13,500 Filipinos living in the Napa, Sonoma, and Yuba counties, which are the areas most affected by the wildfires.
An estimated 4,200 Filipinos live in the other affected counties of Lake, Marin and Mendocino.
Bensurto said windy, and hot conditions from late spring through autumn cause periodic wildfires in California.
The most recent wildfire, in 2014, affected more than 54,000 hectares of land.
The largest wildfire in recent history was recorded in 2012, which affected almost 128,000 hectares of land in California and Nevada.
Fanned by winds of over 80 kilometers an hour, the blazes have forced more than 20,000 people to evacuate in the country’s heaviest populated state since they began Sunday night (Monday in Manila).
California’s fire service said about 30,000 hectares had been ravaged by the major infernos.
“The Sheriff’s Office confirms seven fire-related deaths from the Sonoma Co. fires. Our condolences to their friends and families,” tweeted the sheriff of Sonoma County in the state’s north.
At least 1,500 buildings were destroyed as the state declared an emergency in three counties ravaged by intense fires, mostly in its famous wine-producing regions.
Fourteen major fires are burning in total. Napa, Sonoma and Yuba counties are covered by Governor Jerry Brown’s order. The counties are north of San Francisco Bay.
An AFP correspondent in the Santa Rosa area witnessed multiple explosions from gas lines or gas tanks, in addition to charred out homes and a winery. Fire trucks were out in force in that area, he said.
About 410 firefighters are working on blazes in Mendocino, a sheriff’s spokesman in that county told the CBS news network, adding that multiple fatalities were expected.
– Significant damage –
Another fire in Anaheim has surged to char 800 hectares and at least 200 fire fighters scrambled to try to contain it.
Dozens of shelters were opened in schools and churches. Even livestock had shelter areas set up on some fair grounds.
“We’re going to have to start over completely,” Dreama Goldberg, who fled her home—now a heap of ashes—at eight months pregnant, told NBC.
Jesus Torres told CBS he barely had time to grab a few things and run from his home.
“We could see the sky was getting red: We did not know it was fire until the last second because there was just smoke everywhere,” he said.
The Hilton Hotel in Santa Rosa said on Facebook that its staff and guests were evacuated safely.
“The wildfires in Santa Rosa, California and the surrounding areas have forced the evacuation and temporary closure of Hilton Sonoma Wine Country,” it said on Facebook.
“All guests and associates of the Hotel have been safely evacuated and are not able to return until further notice. It is anticipated that the Hotel has sustained significant damage.”
Pacific Gas & Electric said more than 196,000 customers had initially lost elecricity although half had had their power restored. With AFP