Thousands Evacuate as Northern California Wildfire Spreads

. An AP photographer saw fire burn three adjacent suburban-style homes in Oroville. - The AP
. An AP photographer saw fire burn three adjacent suburban-style homes in Oroville. - The AP
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Thousands Evacuate as Northern California Wildfire Spreads

. An AP photographer saw fire burn three adjacent suburban-style homes in Oroville. - The AP
. An AP photographer saw fire burn three adjacent suburban-style homes in Oroville. - The AP

Firefighters lined roads to keep flames from reaching homes as helicopters dropped water on a growing wildfire Wednesday in Northern California that has forced at least 26,000 people to evacuate, as the state sweltered under extreme heat.

The Thompson fire broke out before noon Tuesday about 70 miles (110 kilometers) north of Sacramento, near the city of Oroville in Butte County. It sent up a huge plume of smoke that could be seen from space as it grew to more than 5.5 square miles (14 square kilometers). There was no containment, The AP reported.

But Oroville Mayor David Pittman said by Wednesday afternoon there had been a “significant drop in the fire activity,” and he was hopeful that some residents could soon be allowed to return home. The fire's progress was stopped along the southern edge and firefighters working in steep terrain were trying to build containment lines on the northern side.

“On that north side they have some real struggles in terms of the topography,” Pittman said.

Meanwhile another fire broke out Wednesday afternoon about 5 miles (8 kilometers) south of Oroville, prompting new evacuations near the town of Palermo. That blaze, dubbed the Grubbs Fire, also had no containment.

More than a dozen other blazes, most of them small, were active across the state, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire. A fire Wednesday afternoon briefly prompted evacuations in heavily populated Simi Valley, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) northwest of downtown Los Angeles.

The state's largest blaze, the Basin Fire, covered nearly 22 square miles (57 square kilometers) of the Sierra National Forest in eastern Fresno County and was 26% contained.

In Oroville, a state of emergency was declared Tuesday night and evacuation centers were set up. The evacuation zone expanded Wednesday into foothills and rural areas beyond the city that’s home to about 20,000 people. With July Fourth in mind, authorities also warned that fireworks are banned in many places, including most of Butte County.

There was no immediate official report on property losses. An AP photographer saw fire burn three adjacent suburban-style homes in Oroville.

The fire ignited sprigs of grass poking from the concrete edges of Lake Oroville as gusty winds whipped up American flags lining a bend of the state’s second largest reservoir and the nation’s tallest dam.

Residents stood on hillsides in the night, watching the orange glow, as aircraft made water drops to keep the fire from spreading. A crew of more than a dozen firefighters saved one home as goats and other farm animals ran to find safety.

The fire's cause is being investigated. Red flag warnings for critical fire weather conditions, including gusty northerly winds and low humidity levels, were in effect when it erupted.

“The conditions out there that are in our county this summer are much different than we’ve experienced the last two summers,” said Garrett Sjolund, the Butte County unit chief for Cal Fire. “The fuels are very dense, brush is dry. And as you can see, any wind will, move a fire out very quickly.”

The conditions led Pacific Gas & Electric to implement targeted public safety power shutoffs in parts of some Northern California counties to prevent fires from being ignited by downed or damaged wires.

Hot conditions, with the potential for triple digit temperatures, were expected to continue into next week.

Authorities warned of full legal consequences for any illegal use of fireworks during the Fourth of July holiday.

“Don’t be an idiot, cause a fire and create more problems for us,” said Butte County Sheriff Kory L. Honea. ”No one in the community is going to want that. And we certainly don’t want this."

The governor’s office announced late Tuesday that federal funding had been approved to help with firefighting efforts. Gov. Gavin Newsom this week activated the State Operations Center to coordinate California’s response, dispatch mutual aid and support communities as they respond to threats of wildfire and excessive heat.

In Southern California, Joshua Tree National Park officials closed Covington Flats, an area with most of the park's important Joshua tree populations, on Wednesday because of extreme fire risk after spring rains led to abundant grass that has now dried. A June 2023 fire burned 1.6 square miles (4.14 square kilometers) of Joshua trees and desert tortoise habitat.



In Tune with Nature: Expert Sounds Out all of Ireland's Bird Species

Irish ornithologist Sean Ronayne is on a mission to record all of Ireland's bird songs, and says his unique audio archive can both raise alarm and bring hope. Paul Faith / AFP
Irish ornithologist Sean Ronayne is on a mission to record all of Ireland's bird songs, and says his unique audio archive can both raise alarm and bring hope. Paul Faith / AFP
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In Tune with Nature: Expert Sounds Out all of Ireland's Bird Species

Irish ornithologist Sean Ronayne is on a mission to record all of Ireland's bird songs, and says his unique audio archive can both raise alarm and bring hope. Paul Faith / AFP
Irish ornithologist Sean Ronayne is on a mission to record all of Ireland's bird songs, and says his unique audio archive can both raise alarm and bring hope. Paul Faith / AFP

On a mission to record all of Ireland's bird species, many of which are dying out, Irishman Sean Ronayne calls his unique audio archive a tool to both raise alarm and bring hope.

According to conservation bodies, some 63 percent of Ireland's birds are currently either red or amber-listed, meaning they are at severe or moderate extinction risk.

"Birds are in trouble in Ireland like they are across the world, the loss of wildlife -- sonically and physically -- is devastating to me," said the 37-year-old.

"But I focus on hope and beauty, which is essential," the ornithologist told AFP at his home near Cobh (pronounced "Cove") in County Cork.

More than four years into his recording project he has sampled 201 different Irish bird species, stocking over 12,000 audio clips from around the country, Ronayne told AFP.

Just two remain to be documented: the great skua, and red-breasted merganser.

"If people realize just how spectacular wildlife is, there's no way they would let it disappear, attitudes would change," Ronayne said.

- Sound: 'an engaging tool' -

Ireland may be famed for its green fields, but Ronayne paints a bleak picture -- "realistic" he says -- of a degraded landscape and a bird population decimated by vanishing habitats.

Most of Ireland comprises intensively farmed fields bounded by trimmed hedgerows, drained and mined peatlands, overgrazed uplands, and minimal native woodland, he told AFP.

Non-native conifer plantations -- approximately nine percent of Ireland's 11 percent forest cover -- are also a biodiversity villain, described by Ronayne as "a species-poor industrial cash-crop".

"I try to show people the beauty of what we're erasing and what we must stand up and fight for," said the wildlife expert.

Last year he published an award-winning book, released two albums, and made an acclaimed documentary film. His talk tour is currently selling out venues around Ireland.

"Wildlife sound is such a great engaging tool to connect people to nature itself and get them acquainted with everything that's on their doorstep," Ronayne told AFP.

"If you know your neighbor you're more likely to help them in times of need," he said.

At the shows Ronayne, who was diagnosed with a form of autism as an adult, presents the story of his life and how nature is woven through it.

He also plays audio of warbles, tweets, trills, screeches and chirps, and mystery sounds, inviting the audience to guess the origin.

Some clips show birds mimicking other animals like dogs, people and other bird species.

"Some species in my collection can mimic 30 to 40 other species in their song," he said.

Laughter is common at his talks, but also tears and grief as listeners learn of Ireland's endangered birdlife.

'Sonic diversity'

Ronayne regularly holds "dawn chorus" walks, bringing small groups into silent forests far from road noise to experience the birdlife waking up.

A gradually building cacophony of sound, the dawn chorus is "a reflection of the health of a given environment", he told AFP in an old woodland near his home while waiting for sunrise.

"The more sonically diverse it is, the healthier the habitat is," he said.

After unpacking his audio recorder, parabolic microphone and tripod, he quickly identified the melodies of song thrushes, robins, blackbirds, goldcrests and others as they greeted the day.

"Chiffchaff! Did you hear that?! There's a grey wagtail!" he exclaimed, head twitching toward each sound in the lifting gloom.

Ronayne also hides recorders for weeks and even months in remote untouched places where birds congregate.

On Ballycotton beach near Cobh, migrating birds swirled overhead before settling on an adjacent lagoon.

Ronayne carefully placed a waterproof recorder -- able to run for up two weeks -- in grass by the shore.

"They have to fly right over here to there," he said pointing upwards at their route.

"After I collect it I'll be able to monitor the birds, capture their calls, and tell environmental stories from the audio," he said.

Back home, he scrolled on a computer showing thousands of archived sonogram clips -- visual representations of sound -- of birdsong audio.

Each entry included data on the behavior, calls and protected status of each bird: many either red or amber.

"First we must realize how wonderful nature is, then how fragile it is, and how much we have kicked it down," Ronayne told AFP.

"When we as a society fall back in love with nature, and respect it as we once did, beautiful things will happen."