California firefighters beat back wildfire after Tropical Storm Kay YEARS worth of rainfall 10 hours
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California firefighters were able to beat back a massive wildfire outside Los Angeles after a tropical storm brought rains and cooler temperatures, authorities said on Saturday.
The Fairview Fire was 40 percent contained as of Saturday evening after forcing evacuation orders and leaving two people dead, fire officials said. It was just five percent contained on Thursday.
The blaze erupted on Monday at the midpoint of a ferocious heat wave in the southwestern United States, scorching 28,000 acres and destroying more than 20 buildings.
The remnants of storm Kay, which made landfall Thursday in Mexico as a hurricane before rolling north up the Pacific Coast and weakening to a tropical storm, brought rains that helped calm the fire.
Hurricane-force winds blow the branches of a tree in Julian, California as Tropical Storm Kay roared in Saturday
Visitors walk in Downtown Julian as winds and rain fall, as Southern California saw unseasonably rainy weather
Visitors walk in Downtown Julian as winds and rain fall from the tropical storm, with the weather a godsend for firefighters
A tree branch sits in a parking lot at Lake Cuyamaca. The Tropical Storm, which produced winds up to 109 mph in the eastern part of San Diego County
This satellite image made available by NOAA shows Tropical Storm Kay off the Pacific coast, pictured on Wednesday of this week. It began as a hurricane, but weakened into a tropical storm after hitting California
Rainfall is set to continue across Southern California through Sunday
Officials had warned that high winds from the remnants of Kay could fan the flames of the Fairview Fire in Riverside County, east of Los Angeles, which was previously only five per cent contained.
Heavy rain from the storm, meanwhile, raised the possibility of flash flooding and mudslides.
Tropical Storm Kay delivered nearly a year’s worth of rain across Southern California in just ten hours.
It broke all daily rainfall records. In San Diego, 0.61 of an inch of rain was measured on Friday, which crushed the previous record of 0.09 of an inch set in 1976.
CalFire firefighters turn away from the fire to watch for any stray embers during a firing operation to build a line to contain the Fairview Fire near Hemet, California on Thursday
A firefighter attacks on brush fire earlier this week in Hemet, California
Days later, the fire was beaten back with firefighters looking for hotspots as the Fairview Fire smolders near Hemet, on Friday
The Desert Research Institute’s Western Regional Climate Center categorized the San Diego rainfall from Kay as ‘extreme,’ as the city typically sees most of its rain during winter months with February usually the wettest, with an average of 2.02 inches typically falling.
But the conditions also helped firefighters make significant progress overnight, according to Rob Roseer, a spokesman for Cal Fire, the state’s firefighting agency with the blaze now 40% contained with no reports of flash flooding or debris flows.
‘Thankfully, the rain from Tropical Storm Kay came through earlier than expected and provided a lot of relief for firefighters,’ he said.
‘Fire activity has been greatly reduced due to the moisture from Kay,’ a statement from Cal Fire, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said.
Authorities warned, however, that the rains brought a risk of flash flooding and mudflows in areas where burned-out soil cannot absorb the sudden downpour.
Fire captains watch as firefighters create a barrier to slow the progress of the Fairview Fire inside the San Bernardino National Forest near Hemet, California on Friday
Firefighters put out hotspots while working on a firebreak to create a barrier to slow the progress of the Fairview Fire on Friday
Firefighters walk past the scorched landscape from the Fairview Fire inside the San Bernardino National Forest near Hemet on Friday
Firefighters walk past a scorched landscape from the Fairview Fire inside the San Bernardino National Forest
A wave crashes over a beachside bluff as rain and wind batter the coast due to Tropical Storm Kay in La Jolla, California on Friday
Fishermen walk past sand berms as waves in high tide from Tropical Storm Kay hit Long Beach
Heavy equipment reinforces sand berms as waves and high tide from Tropical Storm Kay hit Long Beach on Saturday
Surfers and tourists watch as waves and high tide hit Long Beach, California
Sandbags line residential houses as waves and high tide from Tropical Storm hit Long Beach
Sandbags stand along residential houses as waves and high tide from Tropical Storm hit Long Beach near Los Angeles
Visitors overlook the Pacific Ocean as rain and wind batter the coast due to Tropical Storm Kay in La Jolla, California
Normally sunny San Diego was covered in cloud, wind and rain
Visitors overlook the Pacific Ocean as rain and wind batter the Southern California coast
‘We could go from a fire suppression event into significant rain, water rescues, mudslides, debris (flows),’ Jeff Veik of Cal Fire’s Riverside Unit said on Friday.
Thousands of residents have been ordered to leave their homes, though some people who live west and northwest of the fire have been allowed to return since Friday, Roseer said. Two people died as a result of the fire.
The Mosquito Fire east of the state capital of Sacramento continued expanding overnight, however.
As of Saturday, the blaze had burned through more than 33,000 acres and was 0% contained, Cal Fire said.
Despite high winds and rain, people enjoy the stormy weather during the morning hours on the Imperial Beach Pier on Friday
Nasrin Hamidi gets caught in a wave crashing on the boulders at Capistrano Beach in Dana Point, California
Clouds developing from Tropical Storm Kay move over the Santa Clarita Valley, in California
Visitors overlook the Pacific Ocean as rain and wind batter the coast due to Tropical Storm Kay on Friday in La Jolla, California
With a strong currents warning flag, surfers head out to waves just north of the Imperial Beach Pier on Friday
A vehicle is seen driving along wet streets in Hollywood, California on Friday
Waves and high tide from Tropical Storm Kay hit Long Beach, California on Saturday
Joggers pass in front of a heavy equipment while it reinforces sand berms as waves and high tide from Tropical Storm hit Long Beach on Saturday
Highs in southern California were mostly expected to stay under 90 degrees Fahrenheit, according to forecasters, after days of oppressive heat across much of the state.
Temperatures hit a record 101 degrees at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, the National Weather Service said.
Officials had considered implementing rolling electricity outages earlier in the week, when power demand hit an all-time high.
The western United States is more than two decades into a historic drought that scientists say is being worsened by human-made climate change.
Much of the countryside is parched and overgrown, creating the conditions for hot, fast and destructive wildfires.
The effects of the expected storm reflects the lack of traffic on Sunrise Highway at Mt Laguna on Friday, 55 miles east of San Diego
Caltrans workers remove a fallen tree blocking transit on SR-79 between Paso Picacho Campground and Lake Cuyamaca on Friday near San Diego