California still in flames, and situation could worsen on Sunday

The worst is undoubtedly to come, with new weather conditions favorable to the flames expected Sunday in the region. The fires continued to ravage northern California around San Francisco on Saturday. Illustration of the ongoing disaster: the largest outbreak in the region, the LNU Lightning Complex, located north of the city, is now the second most devastating fire in the history of the Golden State, with more than 127,000 hectares destroyed.

The 1,400 firefighters on site made progress in their fight against the fire on Friday and the disaster was now contained at 15%, against 7% on Friday morning, according to the California firefighting agency, CalFire. Even though it has mostly crossed uninhabited areas so far, the LNU Complex has already destroyed 560 buildings and caused the deaths of 4 people. In total, this week’s fires killed at least 5 people in California.

Nearly 120,000 residents evacuated

Southeast of San Francisco, another blaze, the SCU Lightning Complex, not far from San Jose, is also raging, having already reduced to ashes more than 118,000 hectares, favored by the dry heat that reigns inside. lands. Friday night, it had been 10% content. Also in the area, along the coast south of San Francisco, near Santa Cruz, a third major fire, the CZU Lightning Complex, led to the evacuation of approximately 77,000 people.

In total, more than 119,000 residents have had to leave their homes since the start of the fires, which started after a series of thunderstorms that hit the state with more than 12,000 lightning bolts in 72 hours.

Sunday to Tuesday alert

At a press briefing on Saturday morning, Santa Cruz County authorities said more favorable weather conditions had enabled firefighters to better contain the fire and protect homes. But the respite should only be short-lived, it has been said, as the national weather forecasting service, the National Weather Service, on Saturday issued an alert for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

The region is expected to experience wind gusts of up to 100 km / h, likely to accelerate the progression of the flames. Another risk factor, new thunderstorms are expected over the next three days, the NWS warning that “lightning would probably start new fires in the region, including in remote areas”.