‘They just can’t stop these fires’: Caldor Fire explodes as California’s already nightmarish fire season drags on
FIONA KELLIHER and MARISA KENDALL, Mercury News: "An “unprecedented” wildfire southwest of Lake Tahoe has exploded dramatically, forcing thousands to flee their homes in late-night evacuations and prompting the emergency closure of a national forest as firefighters struggle to catch up with the blaze’s overwhelming spread.
In just four days, the Caldor Fire has charred 62,586 acres in El Dorado County, burning through the 1,200-person town of Grizzly Flats and encroaching rapidly on other small communities nestled in the Sierra foothills. At least two civilians have been injured so far.
The fire’s sudden growth took many by surprise. Linda Blalock said she knew a wildfire was burning, but when she went to bed Monday, it still seemed to be keeping its distance from her house in a rural area near Pleasant Valley. She didn’t expect sheriff’s deputies to beat on her door early that morning, yelling “Fire’s here! Fire’s coming!”
California faces unprecedented dangers as record heat, dryness combine with fierce winds
LA Times, HAYLEY SMITH, LILA SEIDMAN and HAILEY BRANSON-POTTS: "With more than a million acres burned fairly early in the fire season, California is entering uncharted territory as the record dry conditions that have fueled so much destruction will soon combine with seasonal winds that fire officials fear will bring unprecedented dangers.
Officials have attributed warming temperatures and worsening drought to the explosive growth of fires, mostly in the mountains of Northern California, this summer.
And while the fire-prone state has seen gusty winds this season, many experts fear that the impending arrival of strong Santa Anas and Diablos — which typically move in around mid-September — could mark even more misery for weary residents and beleaguered fire crews."
READ MORE ENVIRONMENTAL RISK NEWS --- California drought dims one family's Eden: 'Without water, you're nothing' -- LA Times, PRISCELLA VEGA
Giant Dixie Fire first ever to burn its way clear across Sierra Nevada
JULIE JOHNSON and MICHAEL CABANATUAN, Chronicle: "As firefighters battled to keep the month-old Dixie Fire from burning into Susanville, California’s top fire official said it had become the first in state history to burn from the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada across the mountains to the eastern valley floor.
The Dixie Fire grew to 662,647 acres by Wednesday evening, forcing more evacuations in Lassen County as some residents in Plumas County were allowed to return home. It grew by about 36,000 acres in 24 hours and was 35% contained by Wednesday evening.
The fire ignited July 14 in the western slopes of Butte County and has since burned eastward across the mountains. Cal Fire Director Thom Porter revealed Wednesday during a briefing on the dire fire conditions across the state that it was an unprecedented spread never before recorded in California history."
Cache fire destroys dozens of Lake County homes as power outages, evacuation orders affect thousands
LORI A. CARTER, COLIN ATAGI AND MATT PERA, Press Democrat: "A fast-moving, wind-whipped fire injured at least one person, destroyed dozens of residences and other structures and killed or injured several animals in drought-stricken Lake County Wednesday afternoon in the region’s most destructive fire yet this summer.
First reported shortly after 12:30 p.m. near Cache Street and Sixth Avenue in southeast Clearlake, flames quickly spread west and south, engulfing the Creekside Mobile Home Park and forcing the evacuation of at least 1,600 people, including students at two Lower Lake schools.
Approximately 1,300 people remained under evacuation orders late Wednesday, said Lake County Sheriff Brian Martin, who earlier in the day had pleaded with residents to immediately leave neighborhoods under threat from the Cache fire."
More than 31,000 Californians have been evacuated due to wildfires. Are you prepared?
Sacramento Bee, MILA JASPER: "With wildfires like the Caldor blaze displaying what officials have called “extreme” and “unprecedented” growth, Californians need to be prepared for evacuations.
According to the California Office of Emergency Services, more than 31,000 people have been evacuated due to wildfires in Northern California as of Wednesday morning. Currently, 11 counties are under states of emergency as designated by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
“I want all Californians to really think through being prepared to (be) vigilant over the circumstances that we are facing,” Mark Ghilarducci, Cal OES director, said during a Wednesday briefing. “We are not out of the woods by any stretch of the imagination with regards to these fire conditions. In fact, we’re just beginning in the fire season and we’re already in very, very critical conditions.”
Pastor offers exemption letters for COVID vaccination resisters
ROBIN ESTRIN, LA Times: "A year after defying statewide health orders by continuing to hold indoor services, a Sacramento-area megachurch pastor is offering religious exemption letters to those who don’t want a COVID-19 vaccination.
“The vaccine poses a morally compromising situation for many people of faith,” Greg Fairrington of Destiny Christian Church said in a written statement to The Times. “The religious exemptions we are issuing speak to that, honor that, and affirm that.”
In videos posted on social media, Fairrington said he feared that hospital, government and education workers are “going to lose their jobs because of a mandate.”
With no more beds, hospitals are shipping their COVID-19 patients to far-off cities
AP, HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH/JIM SALTER: "Many overwhelmed hospitals, with no beds to offer, are putting critically ill COVID-19 patients on planes, helicopters and ambulances and sending them hundreds of miles away to far-flung states for treatment.
The surge in the Delta variant of the coronavirus, combined with low vaccination rates, has pushed hospitals to the brink in many states and resulted in a desperate scramble to find beds for patients.
Large hospitals in urban areas already were running short of space and staff when the summer COVID-19 surge started because of other procedures like cancer biopsies and hip replacements. That means they have very few free beds to offer to patients from small rural hospitals without ICUs or from medical centers in coronavirus hotspots."
New interactive map shows how high gas prices have gotten in every California county
Sacramento Bee, MILA JASPER: "Gas prices have ballooned across California – and in one county, those prices have already crossed the $5 per gallon mark.
In Mono County, gas costs a whopping $5.33 per gallon, according to data from the American Automobile Association. That’s more than $2 above AAA’s current national average of $3.18.
Prices in Sacramento County are better off than in Mono, but still come in well above the national average at $4.39. Gas prices in Yolo County are the same as Sacramento, but prices in both Placer and El Dorado counties are higher at around $4.50."
Deadlines loom for California bullet train in its search for new funding
LA Times, RALPH VARTABEDIAN: "As Congress fitfully moves ahead with the largest infrastructure program in recent American history, the California bullet train is still trying to sort out where it will fit in.
A roughly $1-trillion bipartisan package, which has passed the Senate but faces challenges in the House, makes no mention of the state’s high-speed rail effort, the nation’s largest infrastructure project.
Rep. John Garamendi (D-Walnut Grove), a senior member for the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, said he is assessing what language in the lengthy bill may help the project."
Attending a big indoor sports event or concert in California? You'll now need to be vaccinated or tested
The Chronicle, KATE GALBRATH: "California tightened its pandemic rules for large events on Wednesday, as officials continued to plead with holdouts to get fully vaccinated.
At indoor gatherings of 1,000 people or more, attendees will have to present proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test within 72 hours.
The requirement previously applied just to venues where 5,000 or more people gathered indoors, and self-attestation was allowed in lieu of actual proof of vaccination."
As Blue Shield steps back from controversial vaccine role, critics question results
MELODY GUTIERREZ, LA Times: "As public health officials continue their push to vaccinate millions of hard-to-reach Californians against COVID-19, they are doing so largely without the help of Blue Shield of California, the company whose oversight Gov. Gavin Newsom said was essential to improving the state’s slow distribution of doses earlier this year.
The company’s reduced role announced last month closes a controversial chapter in the state’s ongoing efforts to combat COVID-19, one that began with questions about the Newsom administration’s handling of who should be first in line when supplies were limited and culminated in the governor’s surprising decision to put the insurance giant, a longtime political donor, in charge.
Newsom said Blue Shield would speed up the state’s distribution of life-saving vaccines and improve the slow accounting of unused doses. But now, with Blue Shield stepping back, the results from that decision remain unclear. Many of the county officials who initially criticized Blue Shield’s involvement remain skeptical of the vaccine program’s efficacy, while others say the company improved the state’s operations by standardizing how vaccine providers reported doses given, allowing officials to more accurately assess where to send more."
California farmworkers face risks from heat, smoke. Regulations offer little protection
Sacramento Bee, NADIA LOPEZ: "Another surge of hot weather is hitting Fresno and the surrounding area this week, as smoke from nearby wildfires continues to engulf the region. These extreme conditions are leaving hundreds of thousands of farmworkers at especially high risk for heat-related illness and death, according to a recent study from UC Davis.
The danger heat illness poses to farmworkers has been a major concern for decades, but increasingly higher temperatures, a deepening drought and a longer fire season due to climate change have worsened outdoor working conditions in recent years, said Dr. Marc Schenker, founding director of the UC Davis Western Center for Agriculture Health and Safety and coauthor of the study. Farm labor is often strenuous work, which can also greatly accelerate the rate at which a person develops a heat-related illness, he added.
“Agricultural workers are the most vulnerable to heat stress,” Schenker said. “Over the past two decades, the rate of occupational heat stress fatalities has increased coincident with the rising ambient temperature. And if you’re doing heavy work, you’re increasing your risk of heat stress substantially.”"
Dixie Fire crews rerouted to Caldor. Winds abate in California wildfire
Sacramento Bee, SAM STANTON, MICHAEL MCGOUGH and DALE KASLER: "Conditions have gotten so bad on the Caldor Fire burning in El Dorado County that Cal Fire transferred 30 engines early Wednesday from the Dixie Fire — the largest fire in the state this year and second-biggest in state history.
The engines and their crews had been stationed in Reno.
“They were released from the Dixie Fire and sent straight over the hill because they were the closest resources available,” Cal Fire director Thom Porter said."
Chesa Boudin and SF's bitter debate over crime
The Chronicle, MEGAN CASSIDY: "In a city reeling from violence against Asian American elders, the attack this summer on Anh “Peng” Taylor, 94, was especially brutal. Out on a daily walk in Lower Nob Hill, she was approached by a stranger who stabbed her in the stomach and through the wrist. Camera footage helped police quickly arrest a man who had both a long criminal record and a GPS ankle bracelet.
The uproar that ensued after the mid-June knifing was directed not at Daniel Cauich, the 35-year-old man in custody, but at District Attorney Chesa Boudin. Why was Cauich on the streets, Boudin’s critics roared on social media. Why was he not punished more severely for his past crimes?
“Because San Francisco DA screwed up!” one Twitter user wrote as anger coalesced around Boudin."
READ MORE BOUDIN NEWS --- SF DA Boudinand anti-gun-violence advocates to sue 'ghost gun' manufacturers -- The Chronhicle, MEGAN CASSIDY
As protests break out, Taliban boasts of beating the 'arrogant' US
AP: "The Taliban celebrated Afghanistan’s Independence Day on Thursday by declaring that it had beaten the United States, but challenges to the group’s rule — ranging from running a country severely short on cash and bureaucrats to potentially facing an armed opposition — began to emerge.
Protesters defied the Taliban for a second day by waving the Afghan national flag in scattered demonstrations that were met with renewed violence by the militants-turned-rulers.
A U.N. official warned of dire food shortages in this nation of 38 million people reliant on imports, and experts said the country was severely short on cash, highlighting that the Taliban faces the same problems as the former civilian government without the level of international aid it enjoyed."
