Related On an October night in 2019, Scott Newman stood on his Sonoma Valley farm and watched the smoke plumes from the Kinkade Fire over the mountains to his north. He texted a friend, the local fire chief, “It looks like we might be in the fire path.” Minutes later, Newman recalled, the chief replied, “Sadly, yes.” By the following day, the fire had reduced nearly everything on his 500-acre property to blackened rubble. Only a single barn remained unscathed.
Newman’s crop and fire insurance policies covered just about all the damages, including six homes, 14 structures, and vineyard and ranching equipment worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Over the next year and a half, he built anew on the property that had been in his family for 50 years.
and i would say after a day of reporting it s not entirely clear. so they could for instance bury every big power line. you know, the kinkade fire in northern california that s still raging seems to have been started by this long distance transmission line. or there s this hiccup in it at the same time it started but it seems to be what happened, so they could bury just a ton of electrical wires, and then you don t have the kind of conditions for ignitions you ve had recently where the winds that create you know, the wind blows over a power line basically and it hits a dry tree or grass and you get a fire. but buried power lines are really expensive. so it costs $2.3 million for each mile of buried power lines as compared to like $800,000 of above ground line. so it s quite a price difference
here or is this the fact it s just what it looks like as california gets hotter and dryer as we enter this era? yeah, it s a great question. i d say after a day of reporting it s not entirely clear. right. there s those technical things they could do. they could for instance, like, bury every big power line. you know, the kinkade fire in northern california that s still raging seems to have been started by this long distance transmission line. there is a hiccup in it at the same time the fire ignition started. it will take a long time to figure out if that s actually what happened. that seems to be what happened. they could bury a ton of electrical wires and then you don t have the kinds of conditions for ignitions you ve had recently where the winds that, you know, the wind blows over a power line basically and it hits a dry tree or grass and you get a fire. but buried power lines are really expensive. so it costs $2.3 million for
so, guys actually have been able to get a little aggressive and get ahead of it. so, that has been an advantage. the kincade fire has burned more 74,000 acres as well as 57 homes. and several vineyards and wineries. it still threatens 90,000 other homes and businesses. while some evacuation orders have been lifted, more than 150,000 people have r. still out of their homes. in los angeles, the 600 eric getty fire near brentwood is just 5% contained. schools there are closed and up and down the state crews are bracing for extremely dangerous fire conditions with gusts of up to 70 miles per hour. the fear, of course, is that santa ana winds in the south and diablo winds around the bay area will spread hot embers and is that correct new fires. to reduce the risk of fires caused by downed or damaged power lines, pacific gas and electric is calling for more planned outages impacting a million and a half customers. for some it will be their
ainsley: kinkade fire very difficult for the firemen upnorth swelling to twice the size of san francisco. to get a handle to contain the steve: think about that twice the size of san fire. francisco. they have to wait until the that s where we find claudia winds die down. cowan live at the incident they have to save as many structures and lives as they command center in santa can. back to you in the studio. rosa, california. ainsley: thank you, robert. claudia? good morning, guys. brian: you have no idea what the the kinkade fire just 15% today will bring. 26 minutes after the hour. contained this morning. it still remains a very it s a story of service and active fire. sacrifice. take a look at this video a soldier who severed his own showing what firefighters are facing. leg to help save his these pictures taken by san crewmembers. francisco fire crews steve: here s why. responding to the front while training in slovakia, ezra lines early yesterday morning. and there was this cell