Latest news with #SantaRosaFireDepartment
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Bracing for the heat: Santa Rosa announces wildfire season has begun
The Brief The Santa Rosa Fire Department on Monday announced the start of the city's wildfire season. The department will begin conducting weed abatement inspections to ensure properties are defensible against wildfires. SANTA ROSA, Calif. - On the heels of a 20-acre grass fire that threatened an RV encampment, the Santa Rosa Fire Department on Monday announced the official start of fire season in the region. In an effort to prevent more destructive fires in the months to come, the department will, in the next two weeks, begin conducting weed abatement inspections at properties throughout the city. Paul Lowenthal, the SRFD Fire Marshal, said he hopes announcing the start of fire season will help residents better prepare themselves and their homes. "We've seen really significant compliance, especially what's here locally. When you look at the Tubbs, Nuns, Glass and Kincade fires that either burned through the city or directly impacted the city and threatened the city, people have changed their behaviors," Paul Lowenthal, Fire Marshal with the Santa Rosa Fire Department, told KTVU. "We've seen an increase with compliance with weed abatement, compliance with defensible space and compliance with overall vegetation management, ultimately making our community safer." The department's weed abatement inspections are part of the city's vegetation management program, which requires property owners to maintain fire-defensible space around a structure. The ordinance requires grass to be cut to four inches or less, as well as the removal of dead plants, grass and weeds, maintaining trees so that no portion is closer than 10 feet from the chimney opening of a neighboring property, and removing the branches of trees up to 10 feet from the ground. Big picture view Santa Rosa has experienced or been threatened by several notable wildfires in recent years, including the Tubbs Fire, the fourth-most destructive blaze in California's history. That fire, which burned in October 2017, destroyed over 36,000 acres in Napa and Sonoma Counties. The Bay Area's wildfire season, as stated by the Western Fire Chief's Association, an organization made of the leadership of firefighting organizations across the western United States, starts in June and can run through November. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, climate change has caused the national window for wildfire season to peak earlier in the year. Between 2003 and 2021, fire season peaked in July, whereas between 1984 and 2002, most wildfires occurred in August. The impact of climate change on wildfires is becoming more and more evident. Two of the most destructive blazes in California's history swept through Southern California in January of this year, well outside the window of the region's wildfire season, May through October. The research organization World Weather Attribution, which studies the influence of climate change on extreme weather events, found that human-caused global warming made the conditions that drove those fires 35% more likely.
CBS News
27-05-2025
- General
- CBS News
Fire at Santa Rosa's Church of One Tree believed to be arson, investigators say
A fire that broke out at a historic church site in Santa Rosa over the Memorial Day holiday weekend may have been arson, firefighters said. Around 8 p.m. Monday, the Santa Rosa Fire Department responded to a fire alarm at the Church of One Tree at 492 Sonoma Avenue. Dispatchers were told that a fire was burning at the back of the church. The first fire crew arrived in under four minutes, officials said. Firefighters stretched hoses to the rear of the structure and were able to extinguish the fire. Firefighters at the scene of a fire at Church of One Tree in Santa Rosa on May 26, 2025. Santa Rosa Fire Department Firefighters then opened a small portion of the back wall and checked the interior of the building, but the fire did not spread. According to a preliminary investigation by a fire inspector, the fire appears to be "an intentional act", the fire department said in a statement. A historic Santa Rosa landmark, the Church of One Tree was built in 1873 from lumber milled from a single redwood tree. For many years, the building served as the First Baptist Church and was later the "Ripley's Believe it or Not" museum. Now owned by the city, the building has become an event space.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
$120K in damage caused from Santa Rosa residential blaze
(KRON) — The Santa Rosa Fire Department said four people were displaced in a Wednesday morning blaze that caused damage estimated at $120,000. Big rig cab catches fire on I-580 in Dublin SRFD said crews responded to the residential fire at 10:15 a.m. in the 1000 block of Boyd Street. Firefighters arrived at the scene 'to find smoke coming from the eves and front door of a single-story residence that had been converted into multiple living units,' said SRFD in a news release. The flames were brought under control in 15 minutes. 'Significant' fire and smoke damage were contained to the living room of the structure, said SRFD. There were no injuries reported, and the cause of the fire remains under investigation. Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) helped with securing gas and electrical services to the residence, said SRFD. Santa Rosa Fire confirmed 15 firefighters, one chief officer and two fire inspectors responded to the incident. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Third atmospheric river to slam California with heavy rain as end of fire season within reach for SoCal
Rain heads south to Southern California on Wednesday as current atmospheric river weakens. Next atmospheric river to bring another round of heavy rain and snow to California on Thursday. Lighter rainfall rates will reduce debris flow risk. More storms needed to officially end California's fire season. Northern California is catching a brief break from a multiday atmospheric river event that brought heavy rain, flooding and high winds to areas around and north of San Francisco. The same event brought snow to those in the mountains and higher elevations in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. According to the FOX Forecast Center, the rain is forecast to taper off on Wednesday and shift to Southern California, where it could help to end the region's wildfire season, as communities recover from the devastating Eaton and Palisades fires. Meanwhile, another atmospheric river-driven storm will impact Northern California and the Pacific Northwest starting Thursday morning. That event is forecast to be somewhat less impactful than the high winds and mudslides on Tuesday that caused a home to collapse in Sonoma County, California. San Francisco Slammed By Damaging Winds As Atmospheric River Event Soaks Northern California The heavy rain on Tuesday produced mudslides in Sonoma County, California. The slides sent a home in Forestville California, into the Russian River in the North Bay area. The Sonoma County Sheriff's office said the home was unoccupied. The department issued an evacuation order for low-lying areas along the river just before 9 p.m. Tuesday night. Areas north of Sacramento, in particular, have seen the highest rain totals since Friday, with Paradise, California, reporting over 20 inches. Lake Shasta and Lake Oroville, California's two biggest reservoirs, have risen an incredible 15 feet since just Friday. 2.89 inches of rain was recorded in downtown San Francisco on Tuesday, breaking a 138-year-old record that had stood since 1887. What Is An Atmospheric River? The multiday atmospheric river also brought damaging winds, taking down a swath of trees around an elementary school in Santa Rosa, California. The Santa Rosa Fire Department said no one was hurt. The strongest winds were recorded along the coast, north of San Francisco, including a gust of 90 mph. Meanwhile, as the current atmospheric river tapers off Wednesday, beneficial rain will move into the wildfire-ridden southern part of the state. Firefighters Battling Deadly California Wildfires Reach Critical Milestone On Road To Recovery With the catastrophic fires across Southern California finally contained, the next two rounds of rain could put an end to this devastating wildfire season for Los Angeles and Southern California, according to the FOX Forecast Center. The first round of moderate rain begins Wednesday morning, with the heaviest rain staying west of the main burn scars. The rain is expected to be light enough to reduce the chance of mudslides and debris flows. Rain of similar intensity is expected to pick back up from Thursday afternoon through Friday morning. According to the FOX Forecast Center, the rain is a very positive step toward, but not quite enough to completely end, the fire weather season for the region, which is experiencing rain deficits of 5-10 inches since October. The atmospheric river is expected to return for Northern California and the Pacific Northwest starting Thursday, right before the start of the morning commute. This storm is forecast to bring moderate to heavy rain. A Level 1 out of 5 flash flood threat is posted from Thursday into Friday along the majority of the California coast from San Francisco to just north of Los Angeles. Interior parts of Northern California are under the same flash flood threat. However, this final shot of the atmospheric river will move quickly and prevent major flood threats or heavy snow accumulations. How To Watch Fox Weather Winter Storm Warnings associated with this parting shot from the atmospheric river have been issued through Friday morning for a large part of Oregon, as well as Idaho and Montana. The Sierra Madre range will also see heavy snow in California, with feet of snow expected on the eastern slopes. Travel conditions in the Sierra Nevada are expected to be very poor from Thursday morning through article source: Third atmospheric river to slam California with heavy rain as end of fire season within reach for SoCal
