wildfires - SFist - San Francisco News, Restaurants, Events, & Sports

Wine Country Marks Eight Years Since Devastating Wildfires, as Rebuilding Is Still Ongoing In Santa Rosa

On October 8, 2017, wildfires ignited in multiple spots in Napa and Sonoma counties, seemingly all at once, amid a dangerous windstorm that helped the fires to spread rapidly and disastrously, especially for two residential neighborhoods in Santa Rosa.

SF News

Florida Man Arrested For 'Maliciously' Starting Palisades Fire In LA

Federal authorities arrested a suspect they believe is responsible for sparking the devastating Palisades Fire in January in Los Angeles.

SF News

Winery That Figures Into Pickett Fire Investigation Says Worker Doused Fireplace Ashes With Water

The Pickett Fire in Napa County, which is still smoldering and stands at 93% contained after burning over 6,800 acres, may have been sparked on August 21 by discarded ashes from curing a new outdoor fireplace. But that has not been confirmed.

SF News

Lightning-Sparked Wildfire Tears Through Rural Gold Rush Town Chinese Camp, Grows to 12,000 Acres

A series of wildfires that were sparked by lightning Tuesday afternoon in multiple locations across Calaveras and Tuolumne counties have prompted evacuations, and one fire damaged multiple homes in the town of Chinese Camp.

SF News

Pickett Fire May Have Ignited During Set-Up of Unauthorized Wedding at Napa Winery

Cal Fire is investigating whether the 6,800-acre Pickett Fire was caused by an outdoor fireplace at Hundred Acre Wines in Calistoga during preparations for an upcoming wedding. Weddings have been banned at wineries in Napa since 1990.

SF News

Day Around the Bay: Tesla Driver Appears to Nap on MacArthur Maze, Sparks Outrage

The former Delta pilot who was arrested for child sexual abuse at SFO in July appeared in court Friday; it's been 20 years since Hurricane Katrina tore through the Gulf Coast; and a Tesla driver appeared to be snoozing behind the wheel last week.

SF News

Day Around the Bay: Pickett Fire Cause Possibly Identified

Investigators may have identified a possible cause of the Pickett Fire near Calistoga; Victor Aenlle testifies in the San Mateo Sheriff hearing; and the SF school board rejects a proposed Mandarin-immersion school.

SF News

Pickett Fire Continues Burning Mostly In Glass Fire Burn Scar, Now 17% Contained

The growth of the wildfire burning northeast of Calistoga was slowed overnight on Monday, thanks to the marine layer moving inland, and Cal Fire said they had reached 17% containment as of Tuesday morning.

SF News

Day Around the Bay: Pickett Fire Smoke Likely to Spoil Some of the Grape Harvest

Sheryl Davis, the disgraced former head of SF's Dream Keepers initiative, is still hanging around City Hall; Recology had a small fire this morning; and smoke from the Pickett Fire is likely going to cause smoke taint for some vineyards' entire harvests.

SF News

Pickett Fire, Which Began Thursday In Calistoga, Grows to 2,133 Acres

A wildfire that is burning in a remote area of Napa County in northern Calistoga grew overnight to over 2,100 acres, and it is currently 0% contained.

SF News

Red Flag Warning Issued for Parts of SoCal, Heat Advisory for Interior Bay Area

Monsoonal lightning is being predicted for some already dry and fire-plagued areas of Southern California later this week, as a heatwave prepares to settle in across much of the state.

SF News

Vacaville Man Sentenced to 73 Years For Murder and Arson That Contributed to LNU Complex Fires In 2020

A Vacaville man who pleaded no contest to the murder of a 32-year-old woman he'd met online, and whose body he then burned near already raging wildfires in the summer of 2020, in an attempt to hide the crime, causing a separate wildfire, has just been sentenced.

SF News

Brush Fire Breaks Out In Napa County, Dubbed the Berry Fire, Spreads to 50 Acres

A brush fire spreading at a "moderate" speed began Friday morning near Lake Berryessa in Napa County, and has already scorched around 50 acres.

SF News

Gifford Fire Grows to 82,600 Acres In Southern California, Threatening Over 800 Structures

The massive Gifford Fire in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties is now on track to be one of the largest wildfires in recent fire seasons in California, and is just 7% contained as of Tuesday.

SF News

Green Fire North of Redding Grows to Over 12,000 Acres

A Northern California wildfire that has been burning for two weeks now is just 5% contained, and has grown to nearly 12,000 acres, burning through Shasta National Forest, north of Lake Shasta.

SF News

Madre Fire In Central California Becomes Largest of the Year to Date Overnight

What began as a 100-acre grass fire Wednesday afternoon in a remote part of San Luis Obispo County has grown to a 35,000-acre blaze in less than 24 hours.

SF News

Saturday Links: SoCal Man Says He Was Dragged From Van, Arrested for Filming ICE Raid

A new report warns that Sonoma County is still not prepared for large scale emergency fire or flood evacuations; a San Jose police officer was arrested for firing his gun and faces child abuse charges; and a SoCal man says he was violently dragged and arrested for filming an ICE raid on Thursday.

SF News

Thursday Morning What's Up: Oakland Fire Burns Hundreds of Porta-Potties

A brush fire in Antioch grew to 290 acres and prompted an evacuation warning Wednesday; a fire in East Oakland burned hundreds of portable toilets; and SpaceX had another massive explosion on the launchpad.

SF Politics

Newsom Calls Trump 'Truly Disturbed' For Threatening to Withhold Federal Disaster Aid From Los Angeles

The latest escalation in President Trump's feud with California Governor Gavin Newsom finds him quite characteristically and yet again threatening to withhold federal funds from the state, and Newsom is already punching back.

SF News

Parts of Berkeley Might Ban All Plants Within Five Feet of Homes for Wildfire Prevention, Plant Lovers Furious

Berkeley is poised to pass a law banning combustible materials being kept within five feet of homes in high wildfire-risk areas, which means people would have to rip out the plants right next to their houses, and many aren’t happy about it.

SF News

North Bay Congressman Blasts Musk and Trump for Firing Wine Country Wildfire Smoke Researchers

The DOGE mass-firings could have serious consequences come wildfire season, as Elon Musk has fired the UC Davis smoke researchers who were working on ways to mitigate the effects of wildfire smoke on wine grapes. And wine country’s congressional rep is furious.

SF News

Saturday Links: CDC Publishes, Then Promptly Deletes, Update On Bird Flu Transmission Between Cats And Humans

Iconic programmer and hacktivist Aaron Swartz has been honored with a marble bust; schools in at least ten states have closed due to flu surge; and tons of thousands of food is going to waste in Houston due to the USAID pause.

Business & Tech

PG&E Rolls Out Ads In Which Execs Talk to Real-Life Customers — Is Anyone Buying It?

PG&E has an awkward new PR campaign with ads airing in NorCal markets in which company executives sit and have frank-seeming conversations with customers about the company's horrible reputation when it comes to wildfire safety.

SF News

Oakland Hills Firestorm Survivor Fights to Protect California Homes From Rising Risks

U.C. Berkeley professor and 1991 Oakland Hills firestorm survivor is tackling California’s insurance crisis, using data-driven models to address climate risks and protect homeowners in fire-prone areas.

SF News

Day Around the Bay: New Wildfire Consumes 8,000 Acres North of LA

The Hughes Fire, which broke out near Santa Clarita this morning, has already burned over 8,000 acres; Sonoma State announces they're cutting athletics, eight academic programs amid a budget crisis; and Trump issues a possibly empty threat toward SF officials.

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