60 miles to Eastern San Francisco is blazing with fire as 14,000 acres of land turned into ashes on Saturday. Two firefighters in the process to curb the raging wildfire have sustained moderate injuries and are expected to recover soon.
While the authorities have said that the “cause of fire is still under investigation,” by Sunday night the brave fire crew managed to tame 75% of the enraged fire, dubbed the Corral fire, that burned down a house and forced the residents to flee the area near the central California city of Tracy.
The extent of Damage
Wind-driven #CorralFire near San Francisco, #California burns about 14,000 acres
VC: @CJeycee#Wildfire #CAwx #SanFrancisco #Forestfire #Bushfire #Fire #Grassfire #Weather #Viral #Climate pic.twitter.com/GNiIlSHczN
— Earth42morrow (@Earth42morrow) June 3, 2024
On Saturday afternoon, a fire caught in the grassy hills managed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, one of the United States’ key centers for nuclear weapons science and technology.
Although the research center was not under immediate threat of the blaze, a mass execution was carried out and thousands of people living in areas near Tracy were ordered to evacuate their homes. The wildfire presented no threat to any laboratory facilities or operations and had moved away from the site, Lawrence Livermore spokesperson Paul Rhien said in a statement to The Associated Press early Sunday.
“We have been working in close partnership with Cal Fire, Alameda County Fire Dept, and other emergency services partners throughout the evening,” Rhien said. “As a precaution, we have activated our emergency operations center to monitor the situation through the weekend.”
The wildfire forced the temporary closure, they were resumed by Sunday afternoon, of two major highways connecting NWT to BC and Alberta.
Weather conditions
San Francisco is forecasted to experience the hottest week of the year, this week. According to the National Weather Service broadcast, High temperatures could potentially climb to the low 100s in some locations.
The oncoming warm up is part of a potentially record-breaking heat dome — a weather phenomenon trapping extreme heat in a large geographical area — on track to scorch parts of California, Arizona, and southern Nevada. An excessive heat warning is in effect for more than 10 million people in California.
Increasing dryness from mid-May to June could potentially trigger more such small fires, which the wind could turn into massive scale destruction. The Corral fire has been dubbed as the largest of more than 1200 wildfires so far this year.
Also Read: Godzilla minus one finally embarked on OTT platforms
Behind raging wildfire incidents
According to the Interagency Fire Centre data, the compilation of 10 years data reveal that wildfire period coincides with many of the warmest years on record nationwide. The largest incidents have occured during the spring and summer months. The transition in climate cycles each decade have resulted in – combined with other ongoing changes in temperature, drought, and snowmelt – warmer and drier conditions that have fueled wildfires in the United States.
Multiple studies have endorsed that the 2024 climate will be one the warmest on record. The global surface temperature in January was 2.29°F (1.27°C) above the 20th-century average of 54.0°F (12.2°C), making it the warmest January on record. This was 0.07°F(0.04°C) above the previous record from January 2016. According to NCEI’s Global Annual Temperature Outlook, there is a 22% chance that 2024 will rank as the warmest year on record and a 99% chance that it will rank in the top five.
