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California fires: 23 killed, hundreds missing as flames spread

Posted at 4:11 PM, Oct 11, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-12 10:02:30-04

Firefighters worked tirelessly to battle fast-spreading flames in Northern California’s wine country as the return of dangerous winds threatened to worsen the blazes that have killed 23 people.

At least 285 people remain missing as the wildfires wiped out communities and scorched 170,000 acres. About 3,500 structures have been destroyed.

Sleep-deprived, soot-covered firefighters are working to contain the wildfires, even as some of their own homes have been devastated.

“This is not easy for anybody. We have firefighters who’ve either lost their homes or who have family members who have lost their homes,” said Jonathan Cox, battalion chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Residents and business owners alike have been affected, with schools canceled for the rest of the week in Napa County and some cancellations of flights due to smoke at San Francisco International Airport.

‘I want to cry’

Pierre Birebent has made wine at Signorello Estate in Napa Valley for 20 years. The fires gutted buildings at the popular winery, leaving charred debris scattered across its landscape.

“I want to cry. I’m trying not to,” Birebent said.

He pointed at piles of ash and rubble. “This was my file cabinet. The door was here. … There’s nothing left,” he said.

A few steps away, the winery’s barrel room is intact, along with its vintages from last year.

More than 20,000 people have been ordered to evacuate, including the city of Calistoga and parts of Geyserville

Authorities urged Napa residents to pack “ready-to-go bags” with documents and medication in case they need to evacuate quickly.

Most of the areas affected are in Napa and Sonoma counties, where Calistoga and Geyserville are, respectively.

At least 8,000 firefighters from California and other Western states are trying to contain the fires, Cox told CNN’s Isha Sesay.

Wind gusts had died down earlier this week but picked up again Wednesday at 20 to 40 mph. Similar conditions are forecast for Thursday.

“There are firefighters who’ve been out there since Sunday night, just working tirelessly,” Cox said. “Every firefighter on the fire line is very conscious of the anticipated wind event for the area, and so they’re not letting their guard down.”

Cox said the 22 fires in the state are anywhere from 0% to 30% contained.

Firefighter’s home destroyed

Flames from the fires have been fast and ruthless, shifting direction without much notice.

Heather and Robert Nappi thought they were safe in their Santa Rosa neighborhood of Coffey Park. A local firefighter for the Rancho Adobe Fire Protection District, Robert Nappi was fighting the blazes on the other side of Highway 101.

Then the fire suddenly changed direction, and Nappi warned his wife to flee. She hurriedly evacuated, along with their 2-year-old daughter and the family cat.

“I only grabbed a couple pieces of clothing just to get us through the night,” Heather Nappi said Wednesday night. “I thought we would be back the next day. … I had no clue that it was going to take our house.”

Coffey Park is now blackened with debris and ash. The fire swallowed everything that wasn’t steel, concrete or brick. At some properties, all that remains are mangled washers, dryers and water heaters.

The Nappis no longer have a home in the neighborhood where they have lived for three years.

“It was a wonderful home to us,” Heather Nappi said. “We had our daughter there. We decorated our nursery there. It’s got a lot of memories in it for the short amount of time that we’ve been there.”

When Nappi fled, she forgot her wedding ring.

As a firefighter, her husband has recovered lost items for others, she said. She hopes he can find her ring, too.

Fear for missing father

Days after neighborhoods first became threatened, hundreds of residents are unaccounted for. Authorities said they believe communications difficulties are preventing those reported missing from checking in with relatives.

Derek Southard has not heard from his father, Daniel, 71, since Sunday. The two live in Santa Rosa, but the son was at a wedding Sunday in Monterey when the fire hit their neighborhood.

“I had been texting him that day at the wedding. I told him I’ll call him that night. And then he never called me back,” Southard said.

“He texted me at midnight and asked if I was having fun at the wedding. I guess the fire came an hour or two after that.”

The neighborhood was still closed off Monday when Southard returned to Santa Rosa. The sheriff checked on his house and told him it was burned to the ground and his father’s car was melted in the driveway.

“I’ve still got my fingers crossed that he made it out somehow,” he wrote on Facebook.

His next-door neighbors told him they barely got out. In their dash to escape, they were not able to knock on his father’s door and notify him.

His father had trouble sleeping and normally used sleeping pills.

Maybe he did not hear neighbors honking, warning people to escape, Southard said.

By Faith Karimi and Darran Simon, CNN