CA Fires: 2.4M Acres Burned; Arson Suspect In Fawn Fire Arrested

San Francisco CA

25 September, 2021

4:28 PM

Description

CALIFORNIA — Smoke lingered over Southern California this week as plumes traveled from massive fires burning in the northern reaches of the state, where thousands of firefighters were working to supress several massive fires. Statewide, some 9,800 firefighters remained on the front lines of 11 major fires on Saturday, Cal Fire reported. On Friday, crews responded to and were able to quell 34 fires that cropped up across the state, according to the agency. In Shasta County, where the Fawn Fire had already charred more than 7,000 acres, a Palo Alto woman was arrested on suspicion of starting the blaze. Alexandra Souverneva, 30, was charged Friday with felony arson to wildland with an enhancement because of a declared state of emergency in California, Shasta County District Attorney Stephanie Bridgett said. She was seen trespassing in the area where the fire broke out — near Fawndale Road north of Mountain Gate — Wednesday afternoon and "acting irrationally," according to Cal Fire. At around 8 p.m., she walked out of the brush near the fire line and approached firefighters who were fighting the fire, telling them she was dehydrated and needed medical treatment, Cal Fire said. Cal Fire law enforcement officers suspected that Souverneva was responsible for starting the fire after interviewing her. The Fawn Fire is the latest destructive blaze to send Californians fleeing from their homes this year, with nearly 2,000 residents under mandatory evacuation orders. Another 7,400 were warned to be ready to leave if necessary, according to the California Highway Patrol. READ MORE: Palo Alto Woman Suspected Of Starting Fast-Spreading Fawn Fire Erratic weather in California continues to drive this year's fire siege. "As Fall season begins, it is important to remember that some of the largest and most destructive wildfires occur during this time of year," Cal Fire officials wrote in a statement. In Southern California, scattered rain and thunderstorms hit Los Angeles this week. Such conditions were expected to move across the Southland through Saturday night with temperatures lingering above normal. On the northern end of the state, a fire weather watch was issued for Monday afternoon and night amid gusty winds and low humidity for portions of northeast California and the Eastern Sierra. Temperatures were expected to remain above normal Saturday with a cooling trend settling in on Sunday. Historic drought tied to climate change is making wildfires harder to fight. It has killed millions of trees in California alone. Scientists say climate change has made the West much warmer and drier in the past 30 years and will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive. Some 7,641 wildfires in California this year have damaged or destroyed more than 3,000 homes and other buildings and torched well over 2.4 million acres since the beginning of the year. In comparison, to the same time last year, there were 8,278 wildfires, which burned more than 3.6 million acres. Here's an interactive map from Cal Fire of all fires burning in the state. See Cal Fire's chart of all major fires burning across the Golden State on Saturday.