Aug. 20 (UPI) — A utility worked died while assisting firefighters battling one of hundreds of wildfires dotting California, state fire officials said Thursday.
The Pacific Gas & Electric employee was found unresponsive in his vehicle Wednesday afternoon, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. Emergency responders performed CPR on the worker, who was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Cal Fire’s Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit said the employee was clearing electric poles and lines in the Gates Canyon area to make it safe for those battling the LNU Lightning Complex of wildfires.
“Please keep the family and PG&E in your thoughts and prayers,” Cal Fire said.
The LNU Lightning Complex comprises about nine individual or merged fires in Lake, Napa and Sonoma counties. The fires have consumed more than 131,000 acres and were 0% contained as of Thursday morning.
The blazes, sparked by lightning and fueled by extreme heat and dry vegetation in Northern California, have prompted mandatory evacuation orders for thousands of residences in the region.
At least four civilian injuries have been associated with the wildfires, 105 structures destroyed and 70 damaged. Together, the fires threatened more than 30,000 structures in the region.
Hills Fire
One other fatality has been associated with wildfires this week — a helicopter pilot fighting the Hills Fire in Fresno County. The pilot’s Bell UH-1H crashed while dropping water on the blaze about 9 miles south of Coalinga.
The Hills Fire, which started Saturday, covered 1,500 acres with 35% containment as of midday Thursday.
RELATED Colorado Grizzly Creek Fire grows to 4,800 acres, forces railway closures
The Fresno County Fire Department said containment efforts have been hampered by extreme heat, steep terrain and limited access to fire area.
SCU Lightning Complex
Another large group of wildfires includes more than a dozen individual blazes in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Joaquin, Santa Clara and Stanislaus counties.
The wildfires have consumed 137,475 acres and were 5% contained as of Thursday morning.
Cal Fire’s Santa Clara Unit said firefighting efforts were hampered by steep, rugged terrain, extreme heat and low relative humidity. The area has also had little to no recent fire history, so vegetation is providing plenty of fuel for the flames.
The wildfires haven’t damaged any structures, but threaten some 6,200 buildings. Evacuation orders were in place for thousands of residents in the region.
CZU August Lightning Complex
A complex of fires in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties has grown to 40,000 acres with 0% containment as of Thursday morning. The blazes injured two first responders and destroyed 20 structures.
They threaten more than 8,500 structures, prompting officials to order evacuations throughout the region.
The Cal Fire San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit said firefighting efforts were hampered by low relative humidity, high night-time temperatures, inaccessible terrain and low resources.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Tuesday as an extreme heat wave overtook the state, fueling about 300 wildfires.
The proclamation covers the entire state and speeds up the availability of resources to fight fires.
