Wildfires in California wine country destroy 2,000 businesses and homes By Associated Press, adapted by Newsela staff on 10.11.17 Word Count 866 Level 960L The sun rises as flames from a wildfire burn on October 9, 2017, east of Napa, California. The fire is one of several burning across Northern California's wine country. Photo by: AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli BELOW: The fires destroyed an area of the Coffey Park neighborhood in Santa Rosa, California. Before: Google Earth After: California Highway Patrol, via AP Photo. SONOMA, California About 20,000 people are fleeing wildfires around California's wine country. The area in flames is famous for its vineyards and its wines. More than a dozen fires, whipped by powerful winds, swept through the area on Monday. The fires destroyed at least 2,000 homes and businesses. At least 17 people have been killed. The state's fire chief said the damage is likely to be much worse than current estimates say. He said the fires were burning throughout a large swath of Northern California, including Napa, Sonoma and Yuba counties. The number of hurt and missing is not certain yet, said Ken Pimlott. He heads the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Later, reports said that at least 100 people were injured and more than 100 others were missing. This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 1
The government ordered people to evacuate, or leave, their homes after the blazes broke out late Sunday. The call to evacuate came in the middle of the night. Soon, people lined up at gas stations trying to leave town. Roads Blocked By Trees And Flames "It was an inferno like you've never seen before," said Marian Williams. She traveled with neighbors before dawn as a wildfire reached the vineyards at her small Sonoma County town, Kenwood. Williams could feel the heat of the fire through the car as she fled. "Trees were on fire like torches," she said. Downed trees or flames blocked some roads. Sonoma County residents struggled to figure out what routes to take. Fires also burned just to the east in the Napa County as well as in Yuba, Butte and Nevada counties. The firefighting agency Cal Fire tweeted that as many as 8,000 homes were threatened in Nevada County, which lies on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. On Monday, Napa County Fire Chief Barry Biermann said the fires had burned more than 68 square miles, about the size of Washington, D.C. Crews had not yet been able to contain a fire heading toward downtown Napa. By Tuesday, fires had burned more than 150 square miles. Governor Declares State Of Emergency "Right now, with these conditions, we can't get ahead of this fire and do anything about the forward progress," Biermann said. He said there were seven large fires burning in Lake, Sonoma and Napa counties. Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in Napa, Sonoma and Yuba counties. In other words, the government will rush rescue and emergency teams and money to help people in a disaster. Smoke was thick in San Francisco, 60 miles south of the Sonoma County fire. John Dean was driving to his Sonoma County home early Monday when he saw a house on fire along the road. Soon he saw more houses engulfed in flames. "I mean blazing, falling down on fire," he said. Dean sped to his home in Kenwood, alerted neighbors and fled to the town of Sonoma. He was one of hundreds who streamed into a 24-hour Safeway market overnight, while authorities set up an official evacuation center. This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 2
Focus Is On Making Evacuations Maureen McGowan was watching over a brother's houses near Kenwood, and said both of the homes on his property were on fire when she left. At the Safeway, she pointed to her feet, still in slippers. She had fled so fast that she hadn't put on her shoes. Officials don't know how many properties were affected, either by the fire or by evacuations, said Belia Ramos. She works in the Napa County government. "We're focusing on making evacuations and trying to keep people safe. We are not prepared to start counting," she said. The "tremendous" wind gusts were making the fire unpredictable, she said. "It's something that we're having to be very cautious about." Ann Dubay is a spokeswoman for the Sonoma County Emergency Operations Center. She said the area where the largest fire started was somewhat rural. Still, the flames "went through many, many neighborhoods," and authorities did not know how many structures were gone. A Shortage Of Firefighters Emergency lines were flooded with callers reporting smoke. Business owner Andy Lahiji stood before a burned-out warehouse where he said he had lost his inventory of furniture and other property. He said it took firetrucks ages to arrive Monday morning. This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 3
"They said, 'We have so many other places to go, you have to wait.' And then when they came, they had only a couple of guys," he told the station. "I feel very sad. I'm glad nobody got hurt. Hopefully insurance takes care of it." If someone has insurance, they pay a little money each month just in case something bad, such as a fire, happens and they lose their things. The National Weather Service said widespread wind gusts between 35 and 50 miles per hour were observed in the north San Francisco Bay region and isolated spots hit 70 miles per hour. The winds were expected to slow in the middle of the day. Community centers, the Sonoma County Fairgrounds and other local centers were opened for evacuees. This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 4
Quiz 1 Read the section "Governor Declares State of Emergency." Select the paragraph that suggests the government of California is stepping in to help people affected by the fires. 2 Read the inference below. Damage from the fires will be much higher than expected due to the size of the blaze and unpredictable weather. Which sentence from the article provides the BEST support to the statement above? (A) (B) (C) (D) The state's fire chief said the damage is likely to be much worse than current estimates say. The firefighting agency Cal Fire tweeted that as many as 8,000 homes were threatened in Nevada County, which lies on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Officials don't know how many properties were affected, either by the fire or by evacuations, said Belia Ramos. Still, the flames "went through many, many neighborhoods," and authorities did not know how many structures were gone. 3 Read the following selection from the section "Roads Blocked By Trees And Flames." Then, fill in the blank. "It was an inferno like you've never seen before," said Marian Williams. She traveled with neighbors before dawn as a wildfire reached the vineyards at her small Sonoma County town, Kenwood. The word "inferno" in the sentence above tells the reader that. (A) (B) (C) (D) the fire was just starting the fire was slowly growing the fire was raging out of control the fire was extinguished This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 5
4 Read the selection from the introduction [paragraphs 1-5]. The call to evacuate came in the middle of the night. Soon, people lined up at gas stations trying to leave town. Which of the following words, if it replaced the word "evacuate" in the sentence above, would CHANGE the meaning of the sentence? (A) (B) (C) (D) leave remain flee abandon This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 6