latimes--2020-08-20--Computer glitches, pleas for patience, worried parents and giddy kids mark back to school

Principal Martha Gomez of El Sereno Middle School on the Eastside of Los Angeles flashed a smile as she pleaded with parents to stay positive during a first-ever school-wide online assembly .
“ This is something new for all of us , ” she said .
“ We ask for patience.
” This week in the nation ’ s second-largest school district , parents and students powered up computers for some 1,400 Zoom assemblies .
They met their teachers in online introductions Wednesday .
On Thursday at 9 a.m. sharp , hundreds of thousands of children are expected to log @ @ @ @ @ @ @ days of the new academic year reveal an imperfect , and at times poignant , picture of the distance-learning challenges confronting educators and families .
Mothers and fathers crouched with their children and smiled into screens .
Children dwarfed by large office chairs waved at friends .
A mother prepared a meal in the kitchen .
And the most basic questions flooded into chat rooms : “ When is the first day of school ?
” “ Where do I get my PIN number ?
” “ Will there be textbooks ?
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s keyboard , but I have not had a return call.
” Across the massive Los Angeles Unified School District , a handful of recurring themes echoed throughout the week .
Educators understand that many students , after campuses closed in March , stopped turning in work and were absent from hastily organized online classes .
During assemblies this week , principals felt it was vital to repeatedly emphasize attendance and participation .
Many parents , meanwhile , said they were already having technology problems and asked about where they could get @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when children will be allowed to return to school — or at least to socialize with other children .
Educators did their best to answer the onslaught of questions , at times presenting a deluge of slides packed with information .
At Patrick Henry Middle School in Granada Hills , Principal Maria Elena Rico-Aguilera broadcast her assembly from the schools ’ library , where she sat alone with a can of watermelon soda .
A campus wall calendar still showed March — the month of the shutdown — and staff members had stacked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a steady trickle of families came by to pick them up or to grab a computer for use at home .
Rico-Aguilera opened her talk with a prerecorded , narrated video that showed her dashing through hallways and shouting out to staff : “ The kids are coming !
The kids are coming !
” But not long into the presentation , a few students hijacked the meeting ’ s chat function for personal conversations , forcing the school to disable it .
In an interview , she recounted how several especially eager @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not sign on to classes .
Formal instruction , she said in the interview and the assembly , would not begin until Thursday .
At Holmes Middle School in Northridge , Principal Kim D ’ Aloisio sat at a table in the cavernous auditorium for her virtual assembly .
Other members of her staff were spaced apart in the far reaches of the room .
D ’ Aloisio gauged students ’ attention with snap quizzes on topics she ’ d just gone over — such as digital citizenship and safety .
“ When @ @ @ @ @ @ @ met online ?
” she asked .
The answer : “ cautiously with parent permission.
” Students had about 10 seconds to answer each question , and the top five scorers won gift certificates to a fast-food restaurant .
“ You can ’ t engage them when you ’ re just delivering information at them , ” D ’ Aloisio said after the session .
“ We can ’ t really see their faces with 300 students , but we know from looking at their responses that they ’ re doing what they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Across the district , teachers and school leaders are looking for ways to ensure that students are present and engaged this fall .
In the spring , some families talked of feeling abandoned by teachers and schools .
Teachers recounted near desperate and ongoing efforts to contact families and keep students attending online sessions and turning in work .
To help change things , teachers and principals across the district have emphasized the importance of getting students to turn on their cameras to track participation .
One high school principal issued a school @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Be appropriately dressed.
” “ The biggest unknown is : Are the kids going to access the live instruction at the expected time ?
” D ’ Aloisio said .
“ And then , are we going to be able to reach out to 100 % of the students to engage them in their learning ?
Normally , we can see them and see how they feel.
” In a district-mandated training video for teachers , UCLA education professor Tyrone Howard reminded educators to emphasize compassion — and advised them not to obsess @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Students might not want to be judged over their living situation .
It may take some time for teachers to build the trust necessary for students to feel comfortable allowing video cameras into their home , he said .
“ In this moment we ’ re going to have to give our students a little more space , a little more mercy , a little more understanding , ” Howard said .
“ We want to be a little less controlling in this environment.
” At Manchester Avenue Elementary School on Wednesday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a virtual meet-and-greet for students and parents from inside her classroom .
She wore a green “ Just Teach It ” school shirt with a black mask and headset .
She had decorated her classroom to look just like it would have if students were there in person , with a giant U.S. map with yellow bus stickers across several states , instruction cards on how to properly listen , and manuals explaining literature genres such as nonfiction , science fiction and mystery .
“ I wanted them just to get the feel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ having the background of our personal classroom just makes it a little bit more normal , ” Alvarez said .
As her students checked into the meeting , Alvarez played a virtual promotional video that provided a tour of the campus and highlighted some school successes .
During that first encounter , she and her students had to deal with technical glitches and inexperience — very likely a common occurrence throughout the vast school system .
A poll asking students how they felt about online learning did not pop up as expected , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ survey in a virtual chat .
She then attempted to speak to students directly , but students initially forgot to unmute themselves .
Later , Alvarez emphasized to her students the importance of being in school .
“ Just know that we have to be present , ” she said .
“ We are in our virtual classroom and we have to be here every day.
” At Panorama High School , new Principal Joe Nardulli smiled nervously as he explained to parents that the school was having technical difficulties with its online @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an option for Spanish translation , but it didn ’ t immediately appear and then it didn ’ t work .
And when an administrator tried to play a video , he was denied access to it .
Still , Nardulli and his staff pushed through and tried to answer as many questions as possible .
Some students had concerns similar to what they ’ d have in any year — they wondered about the possibility of changing an elective and how best to contact advisors and counselors .
But students and parents @ @ @ @ @ @ @ district ’ s online learning platform , Schoology .
Nardulli did his best to assuage any fears .
And he tried to remind students that they can still participate in extracurricular activities , even if they are from afar .
“ School should be fun and school should be a place that students want to be at , ” he said .
At El Sereno Middle School , the school on the Eastside where Principal Martha Gomez started her assembly with a plea for positivity and patience , administrators were quickly tested when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a few students took over the chat room .
“ Is she thinking that we ’ re little kids , ” another commented .
Assistant Principal Virginia Oropeza admonished them to save the chat for questions they needed answered .
But the students continued until the chat was disabled .
“ You need to be on your best behavior , please , ” Oropeza said into the screen .
“ Reach out if you feel overwhelmed.
” Before signing off , Gomez returned to the message with which she ’ d started the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ school year motto : “ Practice patience and grace .
”

Paloma Esquivel, Howard Blume, Andrew J. Campa, Cindy Carcamo

Principal Kim D’Aloisio holds an opening assembly Tuesday for sixth-graders in the auditorium of Holmes Middle School in Northridge, but all the students must attend from home via video conference because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Principal Martha Gomez of El Sereno Middle School on the Eastside of Los Angeles flashed a smile as she pleaded with parents to stay positive during a first-ever school-wide online assembly.
“This is something new for all of us,” she said. “We ask for patience.”
This week in the nation’s second-largest school district, parents and students powered up computers for some 1,400 Zoom assemblies. They met their teachers in online introductions Wednesday. On Thursday at 9 a.m. sharp, hundreds of thousands of children are expected to log on for class — as these early days of the new academic year reveal an imperfect, and at times poignant, picture of the distance-learning challenges confronting educators and families.
Mothers and fathers crouched with their children and smiled into screens. Children dwarfed by large office chairs waved at friends. A mother prepared a meal in the kitchen. And the most basic questions flooded into chat rooms:
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“When is the first day of school?”
“Where do I get my PIN number?”
“Will there be textbooks?”
“I reported problems with my daughter’s keyboard, but I have not had a return call.”
Across the massive Los Angeles Unified School District, a handful of recurring themes echoed throughout the week. Educators understand that many students, after campuses closed in March, stopped turning in work and were absent from hastily organized online classes. During assemblies this week, principals felt it was vital to repeatedly emphasize attendance and participation.
Many parents, meanwhile, said they were already having technology problems and asked about where they could get help. Others just wanted to know when children will be allowed to return to school — or at least to socialize with other children.
Educators did their best to answer the onslaught of questions, at times presenting a deluge of slides packed with information.
At Patrick Henry Middle School in Granada Hills, Principal Maria Elena Rico-Aguilera broadcast her assembly from the schools’ library, where she sat alone with a can of watermelon soda. A campus wall calendar still showed March — the month of the shutdown — and staff members had stacked sets of books on long tables as a steady trickle of families came by to pick them up or to grab a computer for use at home.
Rico-Aguilera opened her talk with a prerecorded, narrated video that showed her dashing through hallways and shouting out to staff: “The kids are coming! The kids are coming!”
But not long into the presentation, a few students hijacked the meeting’s chat function for personal conversations, forcing the school to disable it. In an interview, she recounted how several especially eager students had been panicking because they could not sign on to classes. Formal instruction, she said in the interview and the assembly, would not begin until Thursday.
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At Holmes Middle School in Northridge, Principal Kim D’Aloisio sat at a table in the cavernous auditorium for her virtual assembly. Other members of her staff were spaced apart in the far reaches of the room. D’Aloisio gauged students’ attention with snap quizzes on topics she’d just gone over — such as digital citizenship and safety.
“When should you meet up with someone you met online?” she asked. The answer: “cautiously with parent permission.”
Students had about 10 seconds to answer each question, and the top five scorers won gift certificates to a fast-food restaurant.
“You can’t engage them when you’re just delivering information at them,” D’Aloisio said after the session. “We can’t really see their faces with 300 students, but we know from looking at their responses that they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing.”
Across the district, teachers and school leaders are looking for ways to ensure that students are present and engaged this fall. In the spring, some families talked of feeling abandoned by teachers and schools. Teachers recounted near desperate and ongoing efforts to contact families and keep students attending online sessions and turning in work.
To help change things, teachers and principals across the district have emphasized the importance of getting students to turn on their cameras to track participation. One high school principal issued a school rule for the online time: “Be appropriately dressed.”
“The biggest unknown is: Are the kids going to access the live instruction at the expected time?” D’Aloisio said. “And then, are we going to be able to reach out to 100% of the students to engage them in their learning? Normally, we can see them and see how they feel.”
In a district-mandated training video for teachers, UCLA education professor Tyrone Howard reminded educators to emphasize compassion — and advised them not to obsess over whether students turn their camera on. Students might not want to be judged over their living situation. It may take some time for teachers to build the trust necessary for students to feel comfortable allowing video cameras into their home, he said.
“In this moment we’re going to have to give our students a little more space, a little more mercy, a little more understanding,” Howard said. “We want to be a little less controlling in this environment.”
At Manchester Avenue Elementary School on Wednesday afternoon, fifth-grade teacher Gladys Alvarez held a virtual meet-and-greet for students and parents from inside her classroom.
She wore a green “Just Teach It” school shirt with a black mask and headset. She had decorated her classroom to look just like it would have if students were there in person, with a giant U.S. map with yellow bus stickers across several states, instruction cards on how to properly listen, and manuals explaining literature genres such as nonfiction, science fiction and mystery.
“I wanted them just to get the feel of being in the classroom, and having the background of our personal classroom just makes it a little bit more normal,”Alvarez said.
As her students checked into the meeting, Alvarez played a virtual promotional video that provided a tour of the campus and highlighted some school successes.
During that first encounter, she and her students had to deal with technical glitches and inexperience — very likely a common occurrence throughout the vast school system.
A poll asking students how they felt about online learning did not pop up as expected, so Alvarez placed a link to the survey in a virtual chat. She then attempted to speak to students directly, but students initially forgot to unmute themselves.
Later, Alvarez emphasized to her students the importance of being in school.
“Just know that we have to be present,” she said. “We are in our virtual classroom and we have to be here every day.”
At Panorama High School, new Principal Joe Nardulli smiled nervously as he explained to parents that the school was having technical difficulties with its online assembly.
There was supposed to be an option for Spanish translation, but it didn’t immediately appear and then it didn’t work. And when an administrator tried to play a video, he was denied access to it.
Still, Nardulli and his staff pushed through and tried to answer as many questions as possible.
Some students had concerns similar to what they’d have in any year — they wondered about the possibility of changing an elective and how best to contact advisors and counselors. But students and parents also had several questions about using the district’s online learning platform, Schoology.
Nardulli did his best to assuage any fears. And he tried to remind students that they can still participate in extracurricular activities, even if they are from afar.
“School should be fun and school should be a place that students want to be at,” he said.
At El Sereno Middle School, the school on the Eastside where Principal Martha Gomez started her assembly with a plea for positivity and patience, administrators were quickly tested when, about halfway through the session, a few students took over the chat room.
“Sad,” one student said.
“Is she thinking that we’re little kids,” another commented.
“What up, Gio”
Assistant Principal Virginia Oropeza admonished them to save the chat for questions they needed answered. But the students continued until the chat was disabled.
“You need to be on your best behavior, please,” Oropeza said into the screen. “Reach out if you feel overwhelmed.”
Before signing off, Gomez returned to the message with which she’d started the meeting, reminding participants of the new school year motto: “Practice patience and grace.”


latimes--2020-08-20--Evacuations widen as Bay Area fires threaten San Jose, choke the air

Evacuations widened in the San Francisco Bay Area overnight as wildfires ringing the region scorched hundreds of square miles of land , edged toward San Jose and produced perhaps the world ’ s worst air quality .
In all , more than 349,000 acres have burned in Northern and Central California — the equivalent of 546 square miles , more than the land area of the entire city of Los Angeles .
At least 134 structures have been destroyed , and the fire-fanning weather conditions that have brought record temperatures and thousands of lightning strikes in the past few days @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The largest cluster of fires overnight was in wine country , the LNU Lightning Complex fire , which has blackened a combined 124,100 acres and triggered the evacuation of nonessential personnel from Travis Air Force Base in Solano County and patients from Adventist Health St. Helena hospital in Napa County .
In Sonoma County , the entire city of Healdsburg was under an evacuation warning early Thursday .
Fires were also prompting evacuation orders on the eastern edge of San Jose , a result of the SCU Lightning Complex fire , which has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ east of Silicon Valley and the East Bay and west of the Central Valley .
Flames were nearing the famed Lick Observatory , which serves astronomers from the University of California .
Additional evacuation orders were issued in the path of the CZU August Lightning Complex fire , which was raging in the remote mountainous area southwest of Silicon Valley , on the border of San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties .
That fire has burned 25,000 acres and forced the evacuation of more than 22,000 people , officials said Wednesday night .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ August Lightning Complex fire was threatening the communities of Pescadero and La Honda .
In Santa Cruz County , structures have been lost in the Swanton Road area , and a Cal Fire station was under threat .
The evacuation zone for this fire has expanded rapidly and now includes the communities of Davenport , Ben Lomond and Boulder Creek .
The weather conditions for the next three days look grim , said Mark Brunton of Cal Fire .
“ That makes that threat very direct and very real , ” he said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we possibly can to protect life and property.
” According to the website PurpleAir , the Bay Area was home to the world ’ s worst air quality overnight Thursday .
Air quality is especially bad in Silicon Valley , San Mateo County and Livermore Valley , according to local air quality management officials .
“ Smoke can irritate the eyes and airways , causing coughing , a dry scratchy throat and irritated sinuses , ” the Bay Area Air Quality Management District said .
“ Elevated particulate matter in the air can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ asthma , emphysema ” and other chronic respiratory ailments .
The National Weather Service office for the Bay Area warned that elevated fire weather would persist into Thursday morning , with possible gusty winds in the higher elevations .
“ Very dry and warm conditions will persist across the interior and in the region ` 's higher elevations , ” the weather service said .
“ Smoky and hazy conditions are likely to impact portions of the region through at least this upcoming weekend.
” As of Wednesday afternoon , 367 major fires @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Gavin Newsom .
“ This fire season has been very active and , not surprisingly , that activity has taken shape in a number of counties up and down the state , ” he said during a news briefing .
At this time last year , crews had responded to a total of 4,007 fires throughout the state , Newsom said .
They ’ ve already been dispatched to 6,754 this year .
The rapid outbreak of new blazes has stretched the state ’ s firefighting resources to their limit .
Jeremy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ information officer for the LNU Lightning Complex fire , said Wednesday that the state had already requested 375 additional fire engines as well as additional hand crews from out-of-state agencies , and hired “ nearly all available private firefighting ‘ call when needed ’ aircraft in the Western United States.
” “ The size and complexity at which these incidents are burning is challenging all aspects of emergency response , ” he said during a media briefing .
“ Firefighting resources are depleted as new fires continue to ignite.
” Newsom , however @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to rise to the challenge and thanked the leaders of other states — including Arizona , Nevada and Texas — for their pledges to send additional resources .
California is “ putting everything we have on these fires , ” he said , and “ we ’ re now getting the support of some of our partners in the Western United States , and for that , again , we ’ re very grateful.
” Lin reported from San Francisco and Miller , Money and Serna from Los Angeles .
Times staff writers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Rust and Colleen Shalby contributed to this report .

Rong-Gong Lin II, Leila Miller, Luke Money, Joseph Serna

Firefighter Ian Johnson watches as an air tanker drops retardant to keep the River fire from reaching a home in Salinas. (Noah Berger / Associated Press)
A home in the Sky Ranch community burns in the Carmel fire near Carmel Valley. (Nic Coury / Associated Press)
A plume rises over a vineyard in unincorporated Napa County as the Hennessey fire burns. (Noah Berger / Associated Press)
Members of the Grizzly Firefighters fight the Carmel fire near Carmel Valley. (Nic Coury / Associated Press)
Mobile homes burn at Spanish Flat Mobile Villa as the LNU Lightning Complex fire tears through unincorporated Napa County. (Noah Berger / Associated Press)
Flames consume a cabin at the Nichelini Family Winery in unincorporated Napa County as the Hennessey fire burns in Napa County. (Noah Berger / Associated Press)
Horses stand in an enclosure as the LNU Lightning Complex fire tears through the Spanish Flat community in unincorporated Napa County. (Noah Berger / Associated Press)
Seen in a long-exposure photograph, embers burn along a hillside above Lake Berryessa as the LNU Lightning Complex fire tears through unincorporated Napa County. (Noah Berger / Associated Press)
Matt Nichols sprays water while trying to save his home as the LNU Lightning Complex fire tears through Vacaville. (Noah Berger / Associated Press)
Seen in a long-exposure photograph, embers burn along a hillside as the LNU Lightning Complex fire tears through unincorporated Napa County. (Noah Berger / Associated Press)
Bill Nichols, 84, works to save his home as the LNU Lightning Complex fire tears through Vacaville. (Noah Berger / Associated Press)
An air tanker drops retardant as the LNU Lightning Complex fire tears through the Spanish Flat community in unincorporated Napa County. (Noah Berger / Associated Press)
Flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires jump Interstate 80 in Vacaville on Wednesday. The highway was closed in both directions shortly afterward. (Noah Berger / Associated Press)
The charred carcass of a cow rests beside a road in Vacaville. (Noah Berger / Associated Press)
A firefighter walks through an area burned by the Hennessey fire along Solar Hills drive in Vacaville. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
Flames from the the CZU August Lightning Complex fire approach a structure along Pine Flat Road in Felton. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
The remains of a house burned by the CZU August Lightning Complex fire in Felton. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
Firefighters from Eugene, Ore., walk beside an area burning along Pine Flat Road during the CZU August Lightning Complex fire in Felton. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
A plume of smoke billows over Healdsburg as the LNU Lightning Complex fire continues to burn. (Noah Berger / Associated Press)
Scorched homes and vehicles fill Spanish Flat Mobile Villa struck by the LNU Lightning Complex fire in unincorporated Napa County. (Noah Berger / Associated Press)
Charles Chavira, left, and Thomas Henney watch a plume of smoke spread over Healdsburg as the LNU Lightning Complex fire continues to burn. (Noah Berger / Associated Press)
A crew cuts down foliage and trees near some structures in preparation in Boulder Creek. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
Ben Lomond firefighters work on a blaze at The Sequoia Retreat Center during the CZU August Lightning Complex Fires on Friday. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
Firefighters keeps watch as the fire line creeps up on Highway 9 during the CZU Lightning complex fire. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
Firefighters respond to a structure fire along Riverdale Blvd. during the CZU Lightning complex fire on Sunday. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
Smoke hangs low in the air at Big Basin Redwoods State Park as some redwoods are still on fire on Saturday. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
The Big Basin Redwoods State Park Headquarters & Visitor Center which was built in 1936 was one of the structures lost to the blaze that tore through the state park. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
Hand crews work on a hillside above the Boulder Creek Community Church as the fire line creeps up on Highway 9 during the CZU Lightning complex fire on Sunday. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
A house is engulfed with flame during the CZU Lightning complex fire on Sunday. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
Firefighters watches as the fire line creeps up on Highway 9 during the CZU Lightning complex fire on Sunday. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
Burned vehicles and rubble from homes are left after the CZU Lightning Complex Fire tore through Sunday in Boulder Creek, Calif. (Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)
Firefighters protect a home in the Berryessa Estates neighborhood of unincorporated Napa County, Calif., as the LNU Lightning Complex fires burn on Friday. The blaze forced thousands to flee and destroyed hundreds of homes and other structures. (Noah Berger / Associated Press)
Firefighters from Barstow tackle hotspots along Highway 9 during the CZU Lightning Complex fire Sunday in Boulder Creek, Calif. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
Wildfires ringing the Bay Area and other parts of the state killed at least five people, destroyed more than 500 structures and scorched hundreds of square miles as evacuations expanded Thursday.
In all, more than 694,000 acres have burned in Northern and Central California — the equivalent of 1,085 square miles, more than twice the size of the city of Los Angeles. The fires, fanned by strong winds, heat and low humidity, have forced more than 60,000 people to evacuate.
At least 539 structures have been destroyed, and the fire-fanning weather conditions that have brought record temperatures and thousands of lightning strikes in the past few days are not expected to abate soon.
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One major cluster of fires was in the wine country. The LNU Lightning Complex fire has blackened a combined 215,000 acres, destroyed 480 structures and triggered the evacuation of nonessential personnel from Travis Air Force Base in Solano County and patients from Adventist Health St. Helena hospital in Napa County. It was 0% contained as of 7:30 p.m.
See the location of fires burning across the state in our California wildfires map.
“Extreme fire behavior with short- and long-range spotting [is] continuing to challenge firefighting efforts,” officials wrote in an update Thursday morning. “Fires continue to make runs in multiple directions ... impacting multiple communities.”
Firefighters battle the Hennessey fire in Vacaville on Wednesday. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
There have been reports of fatalities — including four civilian deaths tied to the LNU Lightning Complex fire and a pilot who was killed when his firefighting helicopter crashed in Fresno County on Wednesday, briefly sparking another brush fire to join the dozens burning across the state.
On Thursday, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection also announced the death of a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. employee who was found unresponsive in his vehicle after clearing infrastructure — such as utility poles and lines — in the Gates Canyon area outside Vacaville for crews responding to the fires. Cal Fire Assistant Deputy Director Daniel Berlant later said that the employee’s death was determined to be unrelated to the fires so it is not included in the agency’s fatality count.
In Sonoma County, the city of Healdsburg was under an evacuation warning early Thursday.
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Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick stressed that residents who were ordered to evacuate should do so “calmly yet quickly” and not delay in making their way to safety.
“We also are concerned that many people are pulling over on the sides of busy highways and roads to take pictures and view the fire,” he said during a briefing. “We really urge you to fight that urge and continue to evacuate.”
Residents also should refrain from returning to their homes until given official word to do so, he added. About 30,500 structures around the LNU Lightning Complex are still threatened.
“We have had some minor reports of people reentering evacuation areas, and they’ve had to be rescued,” Essick said. “When we have to rescue you from an evacuation area, it creates a secondary burden on police and fire services and adds to the problem.”
Healdsburg resident Harvest Echols said Thursday that she’s tired of running from fires, tired of packing up her kids, tired of her wine country town that seems to come close to burning every year.
“I want to move,” she said. “There are lots of more relaxing places to live.”
These moments seem increasingly inevitable in California’s pastoral farmlands north of San Francisco, with their rolling hills, old forests and miles of dry brown grass.
Though Healdsburg is only under an evacuation warning, Echols remembers the middle-of-the-night run she had to do last October when the Kincade fire was close enough that its orange glow crested the nearby hills. Two years before that, the Tubbs fire sent them running.
This time, it would be an organized retreat to a lake up north, an attempt to make it seem more like a vacation than another looming disaster.
Her husband, Healdsburg Vice Mayor Shaun McCaffery, said their nervousness is normal in the city, where for the last few days “people were getting anxious” and everybody is leery of the wind picking up.
“It just kind of wears on people that they might have to go,” he said.
Others share his anxiety and the frustration that comes from frequently having to flee wildfires. Near the Healdsburg town square, Gina Gandeza smoked a cigarette in front of her chartreuse green apartment complex. A lifelong resident, she said “a lot of people have been talking about Oregon lately.”
She evacuated last year during the Kincade fire and would have done so again this week, but her two adult daughters work at businesses that are still open — a gas station and a convenience store. Those places won’t close until there is a mandatory evacuation order, she said, and she won’t leave without them.
“Of course, we’ve got the car packed,” she said.
Evacuation orders were also prompted on the eastern edge of San Jose by the SCU Lightning Complex fire, which has burned more than 157,000 acres in multiple locations generally east of Silicon Valley and the East Bay and west of the Central Valley. Flames have neared the famed Lick Observatory, which serves astronomers from the University of California. It was threatening 20,000 structures and was 5% contained as of Thursday evening.
Officials on Thursday ordered additional evacuations, covering portions of San Joaquin County south of West Corral Hollow Road to the Stanislaus County line; west of the 580 Freeway to the Alameda County line; and east of the Alameda County line to the 580 and the Stanislaus County line. They also ordered new evacuations for Santa Clara County, including east of Anderson Lake and Coyote Creek, and north and east of Highway 152.
Excluded from the order are the PAR Estates and Tracy Golf and Country Club, both of which are instead under an evacuation warning.
Additional evacuation orders were issued in the path of the CZU August Lightning Complex fire, which was raging in the remote mountainous area southwest of Silicon Valley, on the border of San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties. That fire has burned 48,000 acres and forced the evacuation of at least 48,000 people, officials said Thursday evening.
Jonathan Cox, a deputy chief with Cal Fire, said the CZU fire has destroyed 50 structures and threatens 20,000 others. It is 0% contained.
The fire has caused extensive damage at Big Basin Redwoods State Park and forced the evacuation of staff, campers and other visitors. The state park, California’s oldest, sustained damage to its headquarters, campgrounds and historic core. Officials with the California Department of Parks and Recreation said the agency did not yet know the number of acres that had burned within the park and were assessing the damage.
“We are devastated to report that Big Basin, as we have known it, loved it and cherished it for generations, is gone,” said the Sempervirens Fund, an organization that focuses on protecting redwood forests and wildlife, in a statement on its website. “We do not yet know the fate of the park’s grandest old trees.”
Cal Fire officials said Thursday morning that the fire was extremely active overnight, creating “significant burning conditions that were unprecedented and unseen by veteran firefighters.”
The fire was threatening the communities of Pescadero and La Honda in San Mateo County. In Santa Cruz County, structures have been lost in the Swanton Road area, and a Cal Fire station was under threat.
The evacuation zone for this fire has expanded rapidly and now includes the communities of Davenport, Ben Lomond, Boulder Creek, Lompico, Felton and the area of Zayante Canyon. Officials also issued evacuation warnings for downtown Scotts Valley, a mountainous city of about 12,000 people just north of Santa Cruz along Highway 17. At about 7 pm, evacuation orders were issued for UC Santa Cruz’s campus, in addition to other areas.
On Twitter, the school wrote that all on-campus residents must evacuate and be prepared to not return for at least two weeks.
“I couldn’t stress more the importance of leaving when those orders come out, I really can’t,” Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Chris Clark said during a briefing Thursday. “There are people that are unaccounted for that we are looking to try to determine where they are, so I stress that because, with this fire, you just don’t know how things are going to go.”
The weather conditions for the next three days make the outlook grim, said Mark Brunton of Cal Fire.
“That makes that threat very direct and very real,” he said. “We’re doing everything we possibly can to protect life and property.”
The Butte County Sheriff’s Office also issued an evacuation warning Thursday afternoon covering the areas of Philbrook Reservoir and Inskip. The county is contending with its own Lightning Complex, a collection of 34 confirmed lightning-caused fires that have burned a combined 1,900 acres.
Many of those fires are under control, fire officials said, and containment for the overall complex was reported at 20% as of Thursday morning.
According to the website PurpleAir, the Bay Area was home to the world’s worst air quality overnight Thursday. Air quality is especially bad in Silicon Valley, San Mateo County and Livermore Valley, according to local air quality management officials.
“Smoke can irritate the eyes and airways, causing coughing, a dry scratchy throat and irritated sinuses,” the Bay Area Air Quality Management District said. “Elevated particulate matter in the air can trigger wheezing in those who suffer from asthma, emphysema” and other chronic respiratory ailments.
“Very dry and warm conditions will persist across the interior and in the region`’s higher elevations,” the National Weather Service said. “Smoky and hazy conditions are likely to impact portions of the region through at least this upcoming weekend.”
Given the unhealthy air and continuing presence of the coronavirus — which can spread through respiratory droplets — experts suggested that staying indoors at home is safest. But, if you need to go outside, wear a mask.
“We are in this perfect storm of a lot of uncertainty with not a ton of reassurance things are going to get substantially better in the next few months,” said Dr. Jahan Fahimi, director of UC San Francisco’s emergency department. “I think we’re hunkering down and preparing for kind of a longer-term response to what is happening in our community.”
There have been more than 370 new wildfires across the state in the past four days, according to Cal Fire.
At this time last year, crews had responded to a total of 4,007 fires throughout the state, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom. They’ve already been dispatched to at least 6,754 this year.
Formed in the last 3 million to 4 million years as tectonic plates grind past each other underneath California, the state’s North Coast mountain range provides fires a range of slopes, canyons and cliffs to run up, funnel through and climb.
The Jarbo Gap at the Feather River channel in Butte County, for example, turned the small flames from a utility-caused grass fire outside Paradise into an inferno, said Don Hankins, a geography and planning professor at Chico State University.
As fires have revisited burn scars repeatedly in the last few years, some areas of land are transitioning from shrub and oak woodland to highly flammable invasive species, such as areas around Napa and Butte counties where ripgut brome grass is expanding, Hankins said. A similar issue plagues the Los Padres National Forest in Southern California.
At the same time, humans continue to expand and install infrastructure. The Valley fire that ravaged Lake County in 2015 was sparked by a faulty electrical connection, and the worst fires in state history, which occurred in Northern California 2017 and 2018, were caused by power lines. The area that burned from 2015-18 amounted to 50% of what had burned there in the previous 65 years, said John Abatzoglou, an associate professor in UC Merced’s school of engineering.
“The complex terrain [in Northern California] does make it more challenging for fire suppression and there’s just more land for fires to take advantage of,” he said, contrasting it with Southern California’s urban sprawl.
Also burning in California is the River fire, which has consumed more than 33,000 acres in steep mountainous terrain south of Salinas in Monterey County, destroying 10 structures, damaging two others and forcing mandatory evacuations, according to Cal Fire.
At least 3,000 structures remain threatened by the blaze, which was 9% contained as of Thursday evening.
The Carmel fire, burning just southwest of the River fire, has charred more than 4,400 acres and destroyed 28 structures, fire officials said.
Crews are also battling a sizable blaze in Tehama County. The Elkhorn fire, originally referred to as the 3-4 fire, broke out southwest of Red Bank Road on Wednesday and has already grown to 15,250 acres and prompted a number of evacuations.
There’s promising news, however, out of Southern California, where firefighters are making progress on a few older wildfires.
The Lake fire, which has burned more than 27,000 acres in Los Angeles County near Lake Hughes, is now 52% contained, officials said Thursday evening. That blaze, which started Aug. 12, has destroyed 12 structures and 21 outbuildings.
Officials also reported 39% containment on the Ranch 2 fire near Azusa. That more than 4,000-acre fire started Aug. 13 and is the result of suspected arson, authorities say.
Crews are also nearing full containment of the Apple fire, which has charred 33,424 acres in the Inland Empire since it broke out July 31.
California Massive wildfire spawns fire tornadoes in Northern California Videos posted to social media showed twister-like formations in the path of the Loyalton fire, which started Friday evening in the Tahoe National Forest.
Progress anywhere is welcome news in fire-ravaged California, where the rapid outbreak of new blazes has stretched the state’s firefighting resources to their limit.
Getting a handle on some fires, officials said, will free additional assets that can then be redeployed as needed.
Given the severity of the state’s firestorm, California also has turned to some of its fellow states for assistance.
Jeremy Rahn, the lead Cal Fire public information officer for the LNU Lightning Complex fire, said Wednesday that the state had already requested 375 additional fire engines as well as additional hand crews from out-of-state agencies, and hired “nearly all available private firefighting ‘call when needed’ aircraft in the Western United States.”
At a media briefing Thursday morning for the LNU Lightning Complex incident, Cal Fire firefighters warned that it would take time to get control of the fires, with officials saying they were short on manpower and resources.
“This is a very large fire. It’s one of many in the state of California, and honestly, our resources are stretched,” said Shana Jones, a Cal Fire chief with the agency’s Sonoma and Lake counties unit.
Cal Fire Incident Commander Sean Kavanaugh said the sheer number of fires statewide has meant that the fire zone in Sonoma, Lake, Napa, Solano and Yolo counties has not received the firefighting manpower officials had been accustomed to getting.
“We’re used to lots of resources, and that’s not where we’re at today,” he said. “With the amount of large fires that we have throughout the entire Northern California, we’re just one small piece of the bigger picture.”
Kavanaugh said in the coming days, there will be additional resources coming in from out of state, and he’s hoping personnel who are fighting smaller fires in other counties — where they’ve made progress surrounding fires with containment lines — will be brought to the LNU Lightning Complex fires in the North Bay, which is 0% contained.
Newsom announced Thursday that the state had received a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that will allow local, state and tribal governments responding to the CZU August Lightning Complex fire to receive reimbursement for up to 75% of certain firefighting costs.
The state has also secured grants over the last week to help fight blazes in Monterey, Napa and Nevada counties.
Another wrinkle in this year’s fire season is the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has raised concerns among displaced residents who would normally pack into emergency shelters and created new challenges for the agencies that operate them.
“This is obviously a new dynamic that we’re dealing with across the state in the COVID moment,” Cox, the Cal Fire deputy chief, said. “The recommendation ... is try to find family and friends that you are comfortable with before you go into these large environments with multiple people where they may be an additional risk for exposure.”
Lin reported from San Francisco and Miller, Money and Serna from Los Angeles. Times staff writers Anita Chabria in Vacaville, Taryn Luna in Sacramento, Susanne Rust in San Francisco and Colleen Shalby in Los Angeles contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-08-20--Don't pay any attention to Trump. Voting by mail in California is safe, secure and reliable

President Trump probably would prefer that our mail ballots be delivered by ox cart .
Or carrier pigeons flying through flocks of raptors .
Unless we voted for him .
Then he ’ d dispatch the military to “ harvest ” the ballots .
Hey , it ’ s not that far-fetched .
After all , this is the president who tried to withhold disaster relief money from Northern California wildfire victims because the state opposed him politically , according to Miles Taylor , the former chief of staff at Trump ’ s Department of Homeland Security .
Former First @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in her Democratic Convention speech when she merely said he “ has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job .
But he is clearly in over his head.
” She didn ’ t get into Trump ’ s meanness .
And he ’ s perfectly up to the job of doing whatever it takes to avoid being tossed from the Oval Office , including sabotaging the Postal Service so it can ’ t deliver mail ballots .
Without mentioning Trump by name , Obama did assert that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they can not win fair and square at the ballot box are doing everything they can to stop us from voting .
...
They ’ re sending people out to intimidate voters and they ’ re lying about the security of our ballots.
” Only public and political pressure forced Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to postpone further cutbacks in the Postal Service until after Nov. 3 to “ avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail.
” “ I don ’ t , frankly , trust the postmaster general , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ San Francisco .
“ If he ’ s sincere about it , it means the bully has backed off.
” California Atty .
Gen. Xavier Becerra announced he ’ ll join several other state attorneys general in suing the Trump administration over the Postal Service cutbacks .
“ No Americans should fear their vote won ’ t count simply because Donald Trump fears a free and fair election , ” Becerra said in a statement .
OK , there ’ s a lot of politics in all those Democratic assertions , but they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ self-incrimination .
Trump rants about alleged massive voter fraud in mail voting when studies have shown it is very rare , if it exists at all .
The hypocrite is a mail voter himself at his Florida golf resort .
Trump ’ s true motive was voiced on “ Fox and Friends ” in April when he said that if the GOP agreed to widespread mail voting , “ you ’ d never have a Republican elected in this country again.
” In a recent Fox News interview , Trump said he opposed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Postal Service — as requested by Democrats and the service ’ s Board of Governors — because the money would be used to handle the expected deluge of mail ballots .
“ They need that money in order to have the post office work so it can take all of those millions and millions of ballots , ” the president said .
“ If they don ’ t get [ the money ] , that means you can ’ t have universal mail-in voting.
” California is pretty close to already having universal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ every election .
In the March primary , 72 % of our ballots were cast by mail .
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic , Democratic Gov .
Gavin Newsom ordered every active registered voter to be sent a mail ballot .
Many voters will fear it ’ s too dangerous to show up at crowded polling places on election day .
“ Voters should be able to cast their ballots in the safest way possible , ” Democratic Secretary of State Alex Padilla told me .
“ The safest bet is to vote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the comfort and safety of your own home .
“ It ’ s safe , convenient and voting by mail is absolutely secure.
” Well , with roughly 21 million ballots being mailed out , what ’ s to prevent a few hundred thousand from drifting into unintended hands and misused ?
What happens when the voter no longer lives at that address ?
The ballot is returned to the county voter registrar , Padilla says .
It ’ s not forwarded .
Can ’ t anyone grab an unmarked ballot off a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and mail it in ?
Sure , but the voter has to sign the envelope and the signature is routinely doublechecked against one on file .
Yes , every signature is checked , Padilla insists .
It ’ s the law .
One of the newest Democratic strategies is so-called ballot harvesting .
It was a huge success for Democrats in 2018 .
A voter — often elderly and frail — can hand over a ballot to someone else to deliver to an official drop box or polling place .
But what if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a politically friendly ballot and tosses it in the trash ?
“ No voter should hand over a ballot to anyone he or she doesn ’ t trust or doesn ’ t know , ” says Fresno County voter registrar Brandi Orth , president of the California Assn .
of Clerks and Elections Officials .
“ That ’ s just basic.
” A fear for November is that an avalanche of mail ballots near election day will overwhelm the troubled Postal Service and the envelopes won ’ t be postmarked in time to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ postmarked by Nov. 3 .
Don ’ t wait until election day to mail it , Orth advises .
“ That ’ s dangerous .
The Post Office is putting out the message to send back ballots no later than a week before the election.
” That shouldn ’ t be hard .
There ’ s hardly anyone who doesn ’ t already know how they ’ ll vote .
For most Californians , it won ’ t be for the incumbent who wants to deny them mail ballots .

President Trump probably would prefer that our mail ballots be delivered by ox cart. Or carrier pigeons flying through flocks of raptors.
Unless we voted for him. Then he’d dispatch the military to “harvest” the ballots.
Hey, it’s not that far-fetched. After all, this is the president who tried to withhold disaster relief money from Northern California wildfire victims because the state opposed him politically, according to Miles Taylor, the former chief of staff at Trump’s Department of Homeland Security.
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Former First Lady Michelle Obama was kind to Trump in her Democratic Convention speech when she merely said he “has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job. But he is clearly in over his head.”
She didn’t get into Trump’s meanness. And he’s perfectly up to the job of doing whatever it takes to avoid being tossed from the Oval Office, including sabotaging the Postal Service so it can’t deliver mail ballots.
Without mentioning Trump by name, Obama did assert that “right now, folks who know they cannot win fair and square at the ballot box are doing everything they can to stop us from voting. ... They’re sending people out to intimidate voters and they’re lying about the security of our ballots.”
Only public and political pressure forced Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to postpone further cutbacks in the Postal Service until after Nov. 3 to “avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail.”
“I don’t, frankly, trust the postmaster general,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters in San Francisco. “If he’s sincere about it, it means the bully has backed off.”
California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra announced he’ll join several other state attorneys general in suing the Trump administration over the Postal Service cutbacks.
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“No Americans should fear their vote won’t count simply because Donald Trump fears a free and fair election,” Becerra said in a statement.
OK, there’s a lot of politics in all those Democratic assertions, but they are based on Trump’s own self-incrimination.
Trump rants about alleged massive voter fraud in mail voting when studies have shown it is very rare, if it exists at all. The hypocrite is a mail voter himself at his Florida golf resort.
Trump’s true motive was voiced on “Fox and Friends” in April when he said that if the GOP agreed to widespread mail voting, “you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again.”
In a recent Fox News interview, Trump said he opposed pumping $25 billion into the struggling Postal Service — as requested by Democrats and the service’s Board of Governors — because the money would be used to handle the expected deluge of mail ballots.
“They need that money in order to have the post office work so it can take all of those millions and millions of ballots,” the president said. “If they don’t get [the money], that means you can’t have universal mail-in voting.”
California is pretty close to already having universal mail voting. It gets more popular every election. In the March primary, 72% of our ballots were cast by mail.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered every active registered voter to be sent a mail ballot. Many voters will fear it’s too dangerous to show up at crowded polling places on election day.
“Voters should be able to cast their ballots in the safest way possible,” Democratic Secretary of State Alex Padilla told me. “The safest bet is to vote by mail. You can vote in the comfort and safety of your own home.
“It’s safe, convenient and voting by mail is absolutely secure.”
Well, with roughly 21 million ballots being mailed out, what’s to prevent a few hundred thousand from drifting into unintended hands and misused? What happens when the voter no longer lives at that address?
The ballot is returned to the county voter registrar, Padilla says. It’s not forwarded.
Can’t anyone grab an unmarked ballot off a kitchen table, fill in the boxes and mail it in? Sure, but the voter has to sign the envelope and the signature is routinely doublechecked against one on file. Yes, every signature is checked, Padilla insists. It’s the law.
One of the newest Democratic strategies is so-called ballot harvesting. It was a huge success for Democrats in 2018. A voter — often elderly and frail — can hand over a ballot to someone else to deliver to an official drop box or polling place.
But what if the harvester feels it isn’t a politically friendly ballot and tosses it in the trash?
“No voter should hand over a ballot to anyone he or she doesn’t trust or doesn’t know,” says Fresno County voter registrar Brandi Orth, president of the California Assn. of Clerks and Elections Officials. “That’s just basic.”
A fear for November is that an avalanche of mail ballots near election day will overwhelm the troubled Postal Service and the envelopes won’t be postmarked in time to be counted. They need to be postmarked by Nov. 3.
Don’t wait until election day to mail it, Orth advises.
“That’s dangerous. The Post Office is putting out the message to send back ballots no later than a week before the election.”
That shouldn’t be hard. There’s hardly anyone who doesn’t already know how they’ll vote. For most Californians, it won’t be for the incumbent who wants to deny them mail ballots.


latimes--2020-08-20--L.A. County Supervisor Solis, Mayor Garcetti press for economic recovery at Democratic convention

L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis and L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti sought to bolster Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden ’ s image as someone who can bring back jobs erased by the coronavirus pandemic during the third night of the Democratic National Convention .
“ American workers need a fighter now more than ever , ” said Solis , who served as secretary of Labor under President Obama .
“ And Joe Biden is that person , because he has done it before .
I ’ ve seen it firsthand.
” Southern California is facing high unemployment numbers , shuttered storefronts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic , and Democrats locally and nationally are hoping voters will seize on criticism of President Trump ’ s management of the health crisis .
Economists said earlier this summer that California is unlikely to recover its pre-coronavirus prosperity over the next three years even as the state claws back from its strict restrictions .
Solis ’ district , which extends from northeast Los Angeles to Claremont , takes in communities hardest hit by the pandemic , including Black and Latino residents and those living in lower-income neighborhoods , which are among the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Angeles County .
She contrasted gains on jobs she said were won under Obama and Biden to now , telling viewers that “ because of Donald Trump ’ s failures , we must once again rescue a sinking economy.
” “ Millions of Americans are out of work , and communities of color are the hardest hit .
Millions of essential workers are putting their lives at risk with little protections .
And millions more are just plain tired , ” Solis said .
Solis said that Biden and vice presidential nominee Kamala @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that “ will build back better.
” Along with job creation and the economy , other themes Wednesday night included gun control , equal pay and health protections for women and climate change .
Both Solis and Garcetti spoke during the economy portion , with the L.A. mayor appearing alongside Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown and Rep. Cindy Axne from Iowa .
Garcetti , who serves as a national co-chair for Biden ’ s campaign , warned about the loss of Main Street as he spoke with L.A. restaurant owner Lien Ta .
Ta @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s Looking at You , announced last month that it would close for the foreseeable future , and she ’ s struggling to keep another restaurant in Silverlake open .
“ At this point I don ’ t even see myself in business next month , ” Ta said in the taped segment .
“ Restaurants are among the hardest businesses to succeed at , but I was going to do it in a way that was going to provide a successful career for not only myself but 100 employees , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ furlough her workers .
“ We don ’ t ask for much from government , but catch us when we ’ re falling , ” Garcetti told Ta .
“ And I know that it must feel like you ’ re falling right now without a net .
”

L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis and L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti sought to bolster Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s image as someone who can bring back jobs erased by the coronavirus pandemic during the third night of the Democratic National Convention.
“American workers need a fighter now more than ever,” said Solis, who served as secretary of Labor under President Obama. “And Joe Biden is that person, because he has done it before. I’ve seen it firsthand.”
Southern California is facing high unemployment numbers, shuttered storefronts and alarming homelessness count figures amid the pandemic, and Democrats locally and nationally are hoping voters will seize on criticism of President Trump’s management of the health crisis.
Economists said earlier this summer that California is unlikely to recover its pre-coronavirus prosperity over the next three years even as the state claws back from its strict restrictions.
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Politics 5 takeaways from the third night of the DNC On a night when Kamala Harris accepted the nomination to be vice president, former President Obama delivered his harshest attack in years against President Trump.
Solis’ district, which extends from northeast Los Angeles to Claremont, takes in communities hardest hit by the pandemic, including Black and Latino residents and those living in lower-income neighborhoods, which are among the most ravaged by the virus in Los Angeles County.
She contrasted gains on jobs she said were won under Obama and Biden to now, telling viewers that “because of Donald Trump’s failures, we must once again rescue a sinking economy.”
“Millions of Americans are out of work, and communities of color are the hardest hit. Millions of essential workers are putting their lives at risk with little protections. And millions more are just plain tired,” Solis said.
Solis said that Biden and vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris have a recovery plan, one that “will build back better.”
Along with job creation and the economy, other themes Wednesday night included gun control, equal pay and health protections for women and climate change.
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Both Solis and Garcetti spoke during the economy portion, with the L.A. mayor appearing alongside Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown and Rep. Cindy Axne from Iowa.
Garcetti, who serves as a national co-chair for Biden’s campaign, warned about the loss of Main Street as he spoke with L.A. restaurant owner Lien Ta. Ta’s popular Koreatown eatery, Here’s Looking at You, announced last month that it would close for the foreseeable future, and she’s struggling to keep another restaurant in Silverlake open.
“At this point I don’t even see myself in business next month,” Ta said in the taped segment.
“Restaurants are among the hardest businesses to succeed at, but I was going to do it in a way that was going to provide a successful career for not only myself but 100 employees,” Ta said, talking about having to furlough her workers.
“We don’t ask for much from government, but catch us when we’re falling,” Garcetti told Ta. “And I know that it must feel like you’re falling right now without a net.”


latimes--2020-08-19--"I'm dying right here": Injured L.A. firefighters recount narrow escape from downtown blast

Los Angeles firefighter Andrew Tom hadn ’ t been inside the downtown building long when he heard the boom .
Other firefighters said it was like a jet engine rocketing to life .
Tom just knew it meant something terrible was about to happen .
Seconds later , as flames consumed the room and lapped at his LAFD gear , Tom thought about his fire academy training and what he ’ d been told about a “ flash over ” — the amount of time that combustible materials will take to ignite during an enclosed fire .
“ They always @ @ @ @ @ @ @ re gon na die .
Five seconds went by .
Ten seconds went by ...
I was like there ’ s no way I ’ m getting out , at all , ” Tom said .
“ That ’ s where my mind went into : It ’ s over .
I ’ m gon na die in here.
” One of 11 firefighters who narrowly escaped a May explosion inside a downtown L.A. warehouse , Tom and several others spoke about the hellish experience Wednesday as they were reunited with the staff @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Grossman Burn Center in West Hills .
“ It ’ s the phone call you never want to get , when you ’ re told there ’ s 11 firefighters burned , and you don ’ t know how bad .
...
It ’ s amazing they survived , ” Los Angeles Fire Chief Chief Ralph Terrazas said .
The explosion inside an East 3rd Street warehouse prompted a sprawling criminal investigation by the U.S. Department of Alcohol , Tobacco , Firearms and Explosives as well as the Los Angeles Police Department , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of shops throughout the city that sell hazardous materials .
Terrazas said Wednesday that those inspections have led to the closure of 11 businesses since May .
The blast happened in a section of downtown nicknamed “ bong row ” because of the concentration of retailers selling rolling papers , butane and other supplies associated with vaping , tobacco and the extraction of THC for marijuana vape cartridges .
Those in the legal cannabis industry say many of the stores on 3rd , Boyd and Wall streets supply butane and other items in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ATF spokeswoman said Wednesday that the cause of the blast remains unknown .
The owner of Smoke Tokes , the business where the explosion happened , has not responded to requests for comment .
Carbon dioxide and butane canisters were found inside the business , authorities have said .
Smoke Tokes is not a cannabis business , and law enforcement sources previously told The Times that no extraction laboratory setup or cannabis was found inside the building .
A criminal investigation has focused on whether volatile substances were stored improperly , the sources @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a 13-year LAFD veteran who was still wearing some protective coverings on his hand and leg to protect burns he suffered months ago , said the scene “ looked like a war zone ” as he and others tried to escape a blast that caused a 30-foot fireball to burst from the structure .
Soriano was one of several firefighters who had to escape from the roof of the building , and remembers clinging to a ladder as flames shot up around him .
“ When I was stuck , and I couldn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , I ’ m done , ” Soriano said .
“ I ’ m dying right here.
” Once outside , Soriano said he saw the fire truck he ’ d ridden to the station in had also been torched , and remembers seeing other firefighters with their skin severely burned as they were transported to the hospital .
Soriano said he required two surgeries , and was only recently cleared to return to duty .
An LAFD spokesman said just two of the 11 firefighters burned that day have been able to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Victor Aguirre was hospitalized for more than two months and suffered burns so severe he lost the use of his hands .
For some hurt that day , the battle remains mental , even as their physical injuries begin to fade .
Tom , who sustained second- and third-degree burns to his back , ears and shoulder blades and still sports angry red scarring around his stomach and rib cage , said he remains unsure if he will return to his Watts firehouse .
“ I still get the flashbacks .
… @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I was trying to get out , ” he said .
“ I can hear all the other guys screaming .
”

L.A. City Firefighter Andrew Tom, who has burns to his waist and legs, greets L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti at a reunion for injured firefighters at the Grossman Burn Center in West Hills on Wednesday.
Los Angeles firefighter Andrew Tom hadn’t been inside the downtown building long when he heard the boom.
Other firefighters said it was like a jet engine rocketing to life. Tom just knew it meant something terrible was about to happen.
Seconds later, as flames consumed the room and lapped at his LAFD gear, Tom thought about his fire academy training and what he’d been told about a flashover — the amount of time that combustible materials will take to ignite during an enclosed fire.
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“They always say five seconds, or you’re gonna die. Five seconds went by. Ten seconds went by ... I was like there’s no way I’m getting out, at all,” Tom said. “That’s where my mind went into: It’s over. I’m gonna die in here.”
One of 11 firefighters who narrowly escaped a May explosion inside a downtown L.A. warehouse, Tom and several others spoke about the hellish experience Wednesday as they were reunited with the staff who helped heal their injuries at the Grossman Burn Center in West Hills.
“It’s the phone call you never want to get, when you’re told there’s 11 firefighters burned, and you don’t know how bad. ... It’s amazing they survived,” Los Angeles Fire Chief Chief Ralph Terrazas said.
The explosion inside an East 3rd Street warehouse prompted a sprawling criminal investigation by the U.S. Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as well as the Los Angeles Police Department, and led Terrazas to order increased inspections of shops throughout the city that sell hazardous materials.
Terrazas said Wednesday that those inspections have led to the closure of 11 businesses since May.
The blast happened in a section of downtown nicknamed “bong row” because of the concentration of retailers selling rolling papers, butane and other supplies associated with vaping, tobacco and the extraction of THC for marijuana vape cartridges. Those in the legal cannabis industry say many of the stores on 3rd, Boyd and Wall streets supply butane and other items in bulk to unlicensed cannabis distributors.
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An ATF spokeswoman said Wednesday that the cause of the blast remains unknown. The owner of Smoke Tokes, the business where the explosion happened, has not responded to requests for comment.
Carbon dioxide and butane canisters were found inside the business, authorities have said. Smoke Tokes is not a cannabis business, and law enforcement sources previously told The Times that no extraction laboratory setup or cannabis was found inside the building. A criminal investigation has focused on whether volatile substances were stored improperly, the sources said in May.
Ian Soriano, a 13-year LAFD veteran who was still wearing some protective coverings on his hand and leg to protect burns he suffered months ago, said the scene “looked like a war zone” as he and others tried to escape a blast that caused a 30-foot fireball to burst from the structure.
Soriano was one of several firefighters who had to escape from the roof of the building, and remembers clinging to a ladder as flames shot up around him.
“When I was stuck, and I couldn’t move, I was like, I’m done,” Soriano said. “I’m dying right here.”
Once outside, Soriano said he saw the fire truck he’d ridden to the station in had also been torched, and remembers seeing other firefighters with their skin severely burned as they were transported to the hospital. Soriano said he required two surgeries, and was only recently cleared to return to duty.
An LAFD spokesman said just two of the 11 firefighters burned that day have been able to return to work so far. Capt. Victor Aguirre was hospitalized for more than two months and suffered burns so severe he lost the use of his hands.
For some hurt that day, the battle remains mental, even as their physical injuries begin to fade. Tom, who sustained second- and third-degree burns to his back, ears and shoulder blades and still sports angry red scarring around his stomach and rib cage, said he remains unsure if he will return to his Watts firehouse.
“I still get the flashbacks. … I can go into the moment where I was trying to get out,” he said. “I can hear all the other guys screaming.”
Times staff writer Richard Winton contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-08-19--L.A. County finally seeing declines in Latino, Black coronavirus mortality rates

Los Angeles County health officials Wednesday reported some promising metrics in the fight against the novel coronavirus , including an overall decline in death rates across all demographics and a “ narrowing of the gap ” among victims of varying racial , ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds .
Black and Latino residents and those living in lower-income neighborhoods have been among those hit hardest by the virus in Los Angeles County , Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said .
Officials say that ’ s largely due to the initial limited access to testing among those communities at the beginning of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work in essential and high-risk settings , many of whom lacked proper protective equipment , such as masks , before such gear was required .
The expansion of countywide testing and protective equipment now being mandated in workplaces has helped remedy both problems , contributing to a drop in the number of overall deaths in the county , officials said .
“ Not only are we seeing decreases , but we ’ re seeing a narrowing of the gap , ” Ferrer said of the number of deaths in the county .
During @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Black residents “ had a rate at four deaths per 100,000 people , ” the county said in a statement .
That rate was three times that of white residents during the same time period .
The mortality rate for Black residents is now 1.7 deaths per 100,000 people , which is slightly higher than that of white residents .
Latinos have seen deaths per 100,000 people decline from a high of six in July to 2.4 .
“ While decreasing , this is still 2.5 times higher than white residents , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ L.A. County health officials reported 61 new coronavirus-related fatalities Wednesday , pushing the overall death toll to nearly 5,400 .
On Tuesday , the county reported 64 deaths .
And Ferrer said earlier this week that the seven-day daily average number of deaths has fallen from 43 in mid-July to 30 in mid-August .
Also Wednesday , there were 1,956 new cases recorded , including 100 from the state ’ s backlog — which stemmed from a breakdown in the electronic collection of test data more than two weeks ago — and a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reporting Tuesday .
Still , officials emphasized the need to remain vigilant .
“ We can ’ t let that progress allow us to become complacent , ” state Health Services Director Dr. Christina Ghaly said .
There are now more than 225,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the county , including about 2,400 positive test results from a backlog spanning the last week of July until nine days ago ; Ferrer thinks at last 2,000 cases are still missing .
The seven-day average for positive infection is now just below 6 % @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s safety threshold of 8 % .
For months , the county had exceeded that rate .
Officials also reported that 1,378 people are hospitalized in the county , continuing a downward trend over the last 2 1/2 weeks .
But a handful of counties across the state are seeing an uptick in the number of people hospitalized , a potential sign of a surge in transmission rates .
California has recorded a 17 % decrease in hospitalizations over a 14-day period , Gov .
Gavin Newsom said Wednesday during a news briefing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ steep and recent numbers are somewhat troubling , he said .
“ The last few days is an important point of caution and consideration as it relates to our efforts , ” Newsom said , noting that Wednesday ’ s hospitalization rate dipped just 0.1 % from the day before .
Among the state ’ s hospitalized patients , 19 % are in intensive care , down from 23 % reported roughly two weeks ago .
At least five counties — Alameda , Monterey , San Luis Obispo , San Mateo and Sonoma @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the state ’ s safety threshold for at least three days , according to the California Department of Public Health ’ s watchlist .
Nearly a dozen other counties , including Orange , Ventura and San Francisco , reported slight increases Tuesday in hospitalized patient counts , but those numbers were far below the state ’ s compliance level of a 10 % increase or lower .
The rate of community transmission of the illness is especially concerning as the state battles multiple major fires , forcing tens of thousands of residents to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that has prompted blackouts and repeated calls for energy conservation .
“ We have challenges — not only with energy challenges as it relates to conditions with wildfires , but we also continue to be challenged by this pandemic , ” Newsom said Wednesday .
Because the virus is a respiratory infection , there is some concern that extreme heat and smoke from the fires could exasperate symptoms of those infected .
Ferrer advised anyone having breathing problems to contact a health provider or to call dial 911 if in dire need .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ for people that are already sick to play around with their own health when they are struggling to breath , ” she said .

Los Angeles County health officials Wednesday reported some promising metrics in the fight against the novel coronavirus, including an overall decline in death rates across all demographics and a “narrowing of the gap” among victims of varying racial, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.
Black and Latino residents and those living in lower-income neighborhoods have been among those hit hardest by the virus in Los Angeles County, Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said.
Officials say that’s largely due to the initial limited access to testing among those communities at the beginning of the pandemic and the fact that many residents work in essential and high-risk settings, many of whom lacked proper protective equipment, such as masks, before such gear was required.
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The expansion of countywide testing and protective equipment now being mandated in workplaces has helped remedy both problems, contributing to a drop in the number of overall deaths in the county, officials said.
“Not only are we seeing decreases, but we’re seeing a narrowing of the gap,” Ferrer said of the number of deaths in the county.
During the peak of transmission in July, Black residents “had a rate at four deaths per 100,000 people,” the county said in a statement. That rate was three times that of white residents during the same time period. The mortality rate for Black residents is now 1.7 deaths per 100,000 people, which is slightly higher than that of white residents.
Latinos have seen deaths per 100,000 people decline from a high of six in July to 2.4. “While decreasing, this is still 2.5 times higher than white residents,” the county said in a statement.
L.A. County health officials reported 61 new coronavirus-related fatalities Wednesday, pushing the overall death toll to nearly 5,400. On Tuesday, the county reported 64 deaths. And Ferrer said earlier this week that the seven-day daily average number of deaths has fallen from 43 in mid-July to 30 in mid-August.
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Also Wednesday, there were 1,956 new cases recorded, including 100 from the state’s backlog — which stemmed from a breakdown in the electronic collection of test data more than two weeks ago — and a few hundred from laboratories that had delayed reporting Tuesday.
Still, officials emphasized the need to remain vigilant.
“We can’t let that progress allow us to become complacent,” state Health Services Director Dr. Christina Ghaly said.
There are now more than 225,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the county, including about 2,400 positive test results from a backlog spanning the last week of July until nine days ago; Ferrer thinks at last 2,000 cases are still missing. The seven-day average for positive infection is now just below 6%, which is below the state’s safety threshold of 8%. For months, the county had exceeded that rate.
Officials also reported that 1,378 people are hospitalized in the county, continuing a downward trend over the last 2 1/2 weeks.
But a handful of counties across the state are seeing an uptick in the number of people hospitalized, a potential sign of a surge in transmission rates.
California has recorded a 17% decrease in hospitalizations over a 14-day period, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday during a news briefing. But the decline has not been steep and recent numbers are somewhat troubling, he said.
“The last few days is an important point of caution and consideration as it relates to our efforts,” Newsom said, noting that Wednesday’s hospitalization rate dipped just 0.1% from the day before.
Among the state’s hospitalized patients, 19% are in intensive care, down from 23% reported roughly two weeks ago.
At least five counties — Alameda, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo and Sonoma — have seen increases in hospitalizations above the state’s safety threshold for at least three days, according to the California Department of Public Health’s watchlist.
Nearly a dozen other counties, including Orange, Ventura and San Francisco, reported slight increases Tuesday in hospitalized patient counts, but those numbers were far below the state’s compliance level of a 10% increase or lower.
The rate of community transmission of the illness is especially concerning as the state battles multiple major fires, forcing tens of thousands of residents to evacuate, and an extreme heat wave that has prompted blackouts and repeated calls for energy conservation.
“We have challenges — not only with energy challenges as it relates to conditions with wildfires, but we also continue to be challenged by this pandemic,” Newsom said Wednesday.
Because the virus is a respiratory infection, there is some concern that extreme heat and smoke from the fires could exasperate symptoms of those infected. Ferrer advised anyone having breathing problems to contact a health provider or to call dial 911 if in dire need.
“This should not be a time for people that are already sick to play around with their own health when they are struggling to breath,” she said.


latimes--2020-08-19--Smoke from wildfires chokes Bay Area as ozone smog threatens Southern California

As fires burn throughout eight of the nine counties in the San Francisco Bay Area , the region is being blanketed by smoke and ash , creating dangerous breathing conditions in a time of pandemic , when healthy lungs matter more than ever .
The smoke comes as the typically cool and dry Bay Area roasts under a prolonged , record-breaking heat wave , forcing residents without air conditioning either to swelter in their homes or venture to public cooling centers .
More than 22,000 people have been ordered to evacuate in and around the Santa Cruz Mountains .
Erin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Air Quality Management District , said people should seek public cooling centers if their homes became too hot , even if it means being exposed to the wildfire smoke .
“ Heat takes precedence , ” she said .
She said the poor air quality resulting from the smoke would probably continue until the fires were mostly contained .
A Cal Fire status report on the LNU Lightning Complex fire on Wednesday suggests conditions may not improve until Sept. 1 .
She also noted that although most cloth masks , including bandannas , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , they do not protect against particulate matter from the smoke .
The American Lung Assn .
urged Northern Californians to be careful Wednesday , warning that the combination of excessive heat , wildfire smoke and COVID-19 poses risks to those most vulnerable to respiratory problems .
“ The combination of uncontained wildfires and extreme heat has created conditions that put even healthy individuals at risk , ” said Afif El-Hasan , an association spokesman .
“ The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic only makes these potential effects more serious.
” Intense smoke and heat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ function and lead to bronchitis or even death , he said .
“ The best thing you can do is to avoid outdoor air , ” San Francisco Mayor London Breed said .
Ash could be seen falling across the region .
Everyone should avoid outdoor exercise when smoke is in the air .
“ Wildfire smoke is especially harmful , ” said Mat Ehrhardt , air pollution control officer for the Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District , adding that particulate matter about one-thirtieth the width of a human hair can penetrate deep @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s coastal areas generally have some of the state ’ s cleanest air , thanks to offshore breezes .
But on Tuesday evening , fires burned throughout the Bay Area — from Point Reyes in the north , to Monterey and Big Sur in the south — and towns such as Bonny Doon were experiencing severely polluted air .
Smoke drifted down into the Bay Area , settling thickest atop the cities of the San Francisco peninsula , including Mountain View , Palo Alto and Burlingame .
DeMerritt said southward winds were blowing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Francisco all the way down to San Jose , while winds along the coast were bringing in smoke from the Lightning Complex fire in the Santa Cruz Mountains , as well as the River and Carmel fires in Monterey County .
On Wednesday morning , cars that had been parked outside along the peninsula were covered in ash and dust , as were windows and outdoor furniture .
The air was visibly hazy , and the smell of campfire was sharp .
Air Quality Index readings ranged from the mid-100 levels along the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ City ’ s hills , according to the website PurpleAir .
The Air Quality Index is the yardstick the Environmental Protection Agency uses for reporting air quality .
Levels ranging from 151 to 200 are considered unhealthy ; from 201 to 300 , very unhealthy ; and 301 and above , hazardous .
In and around Los Angeles , the South Coast Air Quality Management District continued an advisory for ozone pollution , stating that “ extremely high temperatures are expected to persist over the next several days ... increasing the likelihood of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many areas.
” But problems with wildfire smoke in the region have diminished markedly in recent days , partly because of the near-containment of the massive Apple fire in the San Bernardino National Forest .
By contrast , the city of Hillsborough , just south of San Francisco , had the nation ’ s worst air quality Wednesday morning , according to IQAir .
Northern and Central California began experiencing an unusually active sequence of Sunday morning , the most widespread and violent in recent memory in the Bay Area on one of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Daniel Swain , a climate scientist with UCLA and the National Center for Atmospheric Research .
Solano County was facing serious threat Wednesday morning after fire caused residents to flee overnight and burned homes and other structures .
Officials have ordered the evacuation of the western edge of Vacaville — a city of 100,000 residents about halfway between San Francisco and Sacramento — in the area of Alamo Drive north of Interstate 5 and west of North Orchard Avenue , according to a by Vacaville police .
The Vacaville Fire District also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the city , and the north of the city .
Smoke and ash were also a problem far to the east of the Bay Area , especially downwind of a fire near Nevada City , northeast of Sacramento , and in areas downwind of the Solano fires .
On Wednesday morning , ash swirled in the air in Sacramento .
Thick smoke cast a haze and left many wearing their pandemic masks outside to fend off the pollution .
Staff writers Joseph Serna , Anita Chabria , Rong-Gong Lin II , Luke @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contributed to this report .

As fires burn throughout eight of the nine counties in the San Francisco Bay Area, the region is being blanketed by smoke and ash, creating dangerous breathing conditions in a time of pandemic, when healthy lungs matter more than ever.
The smoke comes as the typically cool and dry Bay Area roasts under a prolonged, record-breaking heat wave, forcing residents without air conditioning either to swelter in their homes or venture to public cooling centers. More than 22,000 people have been ordered to evacuate in and around the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Erin DeMerritt, spokeswoman for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, said people should seek public cooling centers if their homes became too hot, even if it means being exposed to the wildfire smoke. “Heat takes precedence,” she said.
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She said the poor air quality resulting from the smoke would probably continue until the fires were mostly contained. A Cal Fire status report on the LNU Lightning Complex fire on Wednesday suggests conditions may not improve until Sept. 1.
She also noted that although most cloth masks, including bandannas, help protect against the spread of COVID-19, they do not protect against particulate matter from the smoke.
The American Lung Assn. urged Northern Californians to be careful Wednesday, warning that the combination of excessive heat, wildfire smoke and COVID-19 poses risks to those most vulnerable to respiratory problems.
“The combination of uncontained wildfires and extreme heat has created conditions that put even healthy individuals at risk,” said Afif El-Hasan, an association spokesman. “The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic only makes these potential effects more serious.”
Intense smoke and heat trigger coughing and wheezing, worsen lung function and lead to bronchitis or even death, he said.
“The best thing you can do is to avoid outdoor air,” San Francisco Mayor London Breed said. Ash could be seen falling across the region.
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Everyone should avoid outdoor exercise when smoke is in the air. “Wildfire smoke is especially harmful,” said Mat Ehrhardt, air pollution control officer for the Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District, adding that particulate matter about one-thirtieth the width of a human hair can penetrate deep into the lungs.
Northern California’s coastal areas generally have some of the state’s cleanest air, thanks to offshore breezes. But on Tuesday evening, fires burned throughout the Bay Area — from Point Reyes in the north, to Monterey and Big Sur in the south — and towns such as Bonny Doon were experiencing severely polluted air. Smoke drifted down into the Bay Area, settling thickest atop the cities of the San Francisco peninsula, including Mountain View, Palo Alto and Burlingame.
DeMerritt said southward winds were blowing the Marin fire smoke into south San Francisco all the way down to San Jose, while winds along the coast were bringing in smoke from the Lightning Complex fire in the Santa Cruz Mountains, as well as the River and Carmel fires in Monterey County.
On Wednesday morning, cars that had been parked outside along the peninsula were covered in ash and dust, as were windows and outdoor furniture. The air was visibly hazy, and the smell of campfire was sharp.
Air Quality Index readings ranged from the mid-100 levels along the San Francisco Bay to 413 in Redwood City’s hills, according to the website PurpleAir.
The Air Quality Index is the yardstick the Environmental Protection Agency uses for reporting air quality. Levels ranging from 151 to 200 are considered unhealthy; from 201 to 300, very unhealthy; and 301 and above, hazardous.
In and around Los Angeles, the South Coast Air Quality Management District continued an advisory for ozone pollution, stating that “extremely high temperatures are expected to persist over the next several days ... increasing the likelihood of Unhealthy to Very Unhealthy air quality in many areas.”
But problems with wildfire smoke in the region have diminished markedly in recent days, partly because of the near-containment of the massive Apple fire in the San Bernardino National Forest.
By contrast, the city of Hillsborough, just south of San Francisco, had the nation’s worst air quality Wednesday morning, according to IQAir.
Northern and Central California began experiencing an unusually active sequence of largely dry lightning strikes Sunday morning, the most widespread and violent in recent memory in the Bay Area on one of the hottest nights in years, according to Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with UCLA and the National Center for Atmospheric Research.
Solano County was facing serious threat Wednesday morning after fire caused residents to flee overnight and burned homes and other structures.
Officials have ordered the evacuation of the western edge of Vacaville — a city of 100,000 residents about halfway between San Francisco and Sacramento — in the area of Alamo Drive north of Interstate 5 and west of North Orchard Avenue, according to a Facebook post by Vacaville police. The Vacaville Fire District also ordered evacuations of Pleasants Valley Road , which lies west of the city, and the English Hills area north of the city.
Smoke and ash were also a problem far to the east of the Bay Area, especially downwind of a fire near Nevada City, northeast of Sacramento, and in areas downwind of the Solano fires. On Wednesday morning, ash swirled in the air in Sacramento. Thick smoke cast a haze and left many wearing their pandemic masks outside to fend off the pollution.
Staff writers Joseph Serna, Anita Chabria, Rong-Gong Lin II , Luke Money, Leila Miller and Colleen Shalby contributed to this report.