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128-668: The 2018 Camp Fire in Northern California 's Butte County was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California's history. The fire began on the morning of Thursday, November 8, 2018, when part of a poorly maintained Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) transmission line in the Feather River Canyon failed during strong katabatic winds . Those winds rapidly drove the Camp Fire through

256-471: A moratorium on new home construction in fire-prone areas. In September 2009 however, the Butte County Board of Supervisors called the grand jury report "not reasonable", citing improved building codes and fire prevention requirements as arguments against a moratorium. Despite these reports, Paradise city planners did not include study results in new plans. In 2009, the town of Paradise proposed

384-502: A Butte County civil grand jury report concluded that the roads leading from Paradise and Upper Ridge communities had "significant constraints" and "capacity limitations" on their use as evacuation routes. The report noted a combination of road conditions "which increases the fire danger and the possibility of being closed due to fire and or smoke", namely sharp curves, inadequate shoulders, and fire hazards adjacent to shoulders, such as "fire fuel and steep slopes". The report also recommended

512-433: A component of any grants received, although these funds are restricted in that they can only be used on activities associated with the particular grant and must be accounted for to the funding agency. This section is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather to give a few examples of what has been accomplished by fire safe councils over the years. Most of these projects were funded by grants. Many fire safe councils operate

640-466: A dirt road surrounded by barbed wire as the fire encroached. In the second, a fire captain and a firefighter received face and neck burns on November 9 when a propane tank exploded as they were defending a house from the fire. Summary of impact on population and first responders reported by Cal Fire. The fire forced the evacuation of Paradise , Magalia , Centerville , Concow , Pulga , Butte Creek Canyon , Berry Creek and Yankee Hill and threatened

768-736: A financial and cultural center. Substantial tensions during this era included nativist sentiments (primarily against Chinese immigrants), tensions between the increasing power of the Southern Pacific Railroad and small farmers, and the beginnings of the labor union movement. Northern California's economy is noted for being the de facto world leader in high-tech industry ( software , semiconductor /micro-electronics, biotechnology and medical devices /instruments), as well as being known for clean power , biomedical, government, and finance. Other significant industries include tourism, shipping, manufacturing, and agriculture. Its economy

896-418: A fire starts. Fire safe councils and Firewise USA both emphasize community responsibility for planning in the design of a safe community as well as effective emergency response, and individual responsibility for safer home construction and design, landscaping, and maintenance. The Firewise USA program is intended to serve as a resource for agencies, tribes, organizations, fire departments, and communities across

1024-406: A formal program, most CAL FIRE units provide financial assistance to their local fire safe councils in the form of "in-kind" matching funds for grants. Other sources of funds for fire safe councils are donations from the community, membership dues, grants from sources other than listed here, and funding from their county and/or city government. In addition, a percentage for administration is usually

1152-883: A handbook on how to form a Fire Safe Council; and other materials. Marketing support was provided under a contract with the public relations firm Manning Selvage & Lee, which had an office on K Street in Sacramento at the time. This overall support from CDF ceased when the California Fire Safe Council, Inc. was formed as a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation in mid-2002. However, most individual CDF/CAL FIRE Units continue to work closely with their local area fire safe councils, often providing "in-kind" matching funds for grants as well as advice on fire safe projects. With active support from CDF and its California Fire Safe Council coalition, more and more communities began forming local Fire Safe Councils. Expansion of

1280-539: A list of current fire safe councils in California see the "Fire Safe Councils" link on the California Fire Safe Council site. As described earlier in this article, initially fire safe councils throughout the state, with support from CDF staff and other organizations that shared the fire safe mission, comprising the California Fire Safe Council (CFSC). However, with the incorporation of the California Fire Safe Council, Inc. (CFSCI) in mid-2002,

1408-481: A major trading post just north of today's Portland, Oregon . British fur trappers and hunters then used the Siskiyou Trail to travel throughout northern California. The leader of a further French scientific expedition to northern California, Eugene Duflot de Mofras , wrote in 1840 " ...it is evident that California will belong to whatever nation chooses to send there a man-of-war and two hundred men ." By

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1536-647: A part of the Bay Area, in recent years the Bay Area has drawn more commuters from as far as Central Valley cities such as Sacramento , Stockton , Fresno , Turlock and Modesto . These cities in the central part of the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada foothills may be viewed as part of a single megalopolis . The 2010 U.S. Census showed that the Bay Area grew at a faster rate than the Greater Los Angeles Area while Greater Sacramento had

1664-593: A proactive role in getting these plans developed and approved, even though this responsibility really resides with local government. Many fire safe councils, as well as individual contributors, have received recognition of their efforts to improve the ability for California's communities to survive a wildfire. Since it is impossible to list all of these, the following examples are offered in honor of all who have contributed to this important effort. Numerous national recognition has been awarded since 2005. There have been numerous other awards and recognition since 2007. For

1792-410: A program that assists people with special needs, such as seniors, low-income, and disabled persons, to create and maintain the defensible space around their homes. Some examples are: One difficulty homeowners have with creating and maintaining defensible space is what to do with the vegetation once it is removed. To help with this, many fire safe councils provide free access to a chipper. An example

1920-536: A reduced number of travel lanes on the roadways and received state funding from the California Department of Transportation to implement a road diet along Skyway, Pearson Road, and Clark Road, three of the town's main thoroughfares and evacuation routes. Paradise planners opted in March 2015 to convert Skyway into a one-way route during emergencies, effectively doubling its capacity. Despite this change,

2048-404: A reporting location. The fire was named after Camp Creek Road, near its place of origin. The road was unpaved and poorly maintained; it had taken one of McKenzie's engines an hour to travel one mile (1.6 km) along it during a previous fire. McKenzie requested that Cal Fire activate its aircraft earlier than their scheduled 8:00 a.m. flight time, and requested more personnel to try and stop

2176-694: A reservoir to escape the flames. Butte County Sheriff's Department initially reported a partial death count for each community (total 67): 50 in Paradise , seven in Concow , nine in Magalia , and one in Chico . Five firefighters were injured during two separate incidents in the first two days of the Camp Fire. In the first, one fire captain and two prison inmate firefighters were seriously burned on their upper bodies on November 8 when shifting winds trapped them on

2304-546: A rest home, churches, part of Feather River hospital, a Christmas tree farm, a large shopping center anchored by a Safeway , several fast food chains, such as Black Bear Diner and McDonald's , and numerous small businesses, as well. The Honey Run Covered Bridge over nearby Butte Creek , the last three-span Pratt-style truss bridge in the United States, was incinerated on November 10. Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal )

2432-729: A revolt and seized the small Mexican garrison in Sonoma. They raised the " Bear Flag " of the California Republic over Sonoma. The "Bear Flag Republic" lasted only 26 days, until the U.S. Army, led by John Frémont , took over on July 9. The California state flag today is based on this original Bear Flag, and continues to contain the words "California Republic." Commodore John Drake Sloat ordered his naval forces to occupy Yerba Buena (present San Francisco ) on July 7 and within days American forces controlled San Francisco, Sonoma, and Sutter's Fort in Sacramento. The treaty ending

2560-516: A vehicle and two on ATVs. Some residents who were unable to evacuate survived by sheltering in place at the American gas station and the Nearly New antique store across the street. Others gathered in the nearby parking lot shared by a KMart and a Save Mart. The survival of some of those who sheltered in place has raised the question of whether in some scenarios last-minute mass evacuations provide

2688-507: A wildfire are very compatible. The major difference between the two methods is that to be certified by Firewise USA, the entire community must be involved, including financially, whereas fire safe councils, especially those that are 501(c)(3) organizations, can operate with a much smaller level of individual participation. Also, fire safe councils often implement projects which go beyond a single community, such as shaded fuel breaks. The Firewise USA communities in California are often chapters of

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2816-526: Is a geographic and cultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California , spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's 58 counties . Northern California in its largest definition is determined by dividing the state into two regions, the other being Southern California . The main northern population centers include the San Francisco Bay Area (anchored by the cities of San Jose , San Francisco , and Oakland ),

2944-543: Is also home to one of the largest Air Force Bases on the West Coast, and the largest in California by square meters, Travis Air Force Base . Northern California's largest metropolitan area is the San Francisco Bay Area which consists of 9 counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma counties. The Bay Area consists of the major cities of San Jose , San Francisco , Oakland , and their many suburbs . Although not

3072-584: Is diverse, though more concentrated in high technology. It is home to the state capital, as well as several Western United States regional offices in San Francisco, such as the Federal Reserve and 9th Circuit Court . Northern California has a warm or mild to cool climate, in which the Sierra mountains gets snow in the late fall through winter and occasionally into spring. Summers are mild along

3200-508: Is nearly inaccessible. It is on the west side of the river underneath the transmission lines. It’s got about a 35 mi/h sustained wind on it. We’ll keep working on access. I’m going to go up the highway to try and get a better idea about how to get to it. It’s a possibility we may have to come in off the top of Concow Road; Flea Mountain… This has got potential for a major incident. Request 15 additional engines, 4 additional dozers, 2 water tenders, 4 strike teams of hand crews. I’ll get back to you on

3328-434: Is often considered as having an additional division north of the urban areas of the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento metropolitan areas. Extreme northern residents have felt under-represented in state government and, in 1941, attempted to form a new state with southwestern Oregon to be called Jefferson , or more recently to introduce legislation to split California into two or three states . The coastal area north of

3456-460: Is responsible for inspecting PG&E's electrical infrastructure. The scope of the CPUC in relation to the scope of electrical infrastructure is unbalanced, however, and the CPUC has had difficulty fulfilling their oversight mandate. A CPUC inspection of the section of the 115 kV Caribou-Palermo line at the origin of the Camp Fire had not been conducted in six years. Many of the electrical towers along

3584-544: Is the Kern River Valley Fire Safe Council Chipper Days . The purpose of these programs is to educate homeowners about creating adequate defensible space and advice for home hardening modifications to reduce the risk of structure loss in a wildfire. These are also called "dooryard visits" by some fire safe councils. These volunteers are trained by their local CAL FIRE Unit or their local Fire Protection District. For example,

3712-489: Is used to describe this area. Next, the Fire Safe! Inside and Out wildfire prevention campaign was developed in 1989 by Loren Poore, Chief of Fire Prevention with CDF. This program created materials, including a video, a brochure, and other items, to educate homeowners about implementing fire safe practices inside and outside the home. Defensible space began to become the catchword for protecting homes and wildlands in

3840-610: The California state quarter . Other prominent parks are the Kings Canyon - Sequoia National Park complex, Redwood National Park , Pinnacles National Park , Lassen Volcanic National Park and the largest in the contiguous forty-eight states, Death Valley National Park . Other areas under federal protection include Muir Woods National Monument , Giant Sequoia National Monument , Devils Postpile National Monument , Lava Beds National Monument , Point Reyes National Seashore ,

3968-621: The Central Valley , one of the world's most productive agricultural regions. Northern California is also home to Silicon Valley , the global headquarters for some of the most powerful tech and Internet-related companies in the world, including Meta , Apple , Google , and Nvidia . The Northern California Megaregion , one of the 11 megaregions of the United States is centered in Northern California, and extends from Metropolitan Fresno north to Greater Sacramento, and from

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4096-469: The Cold War –era expansion of the defense industry. Since the 2000 U.S. Census, Northern California has grown at a faster rate than Southern California due to the strong economic performances of the Bay Area and Sacramento. The U.S. National Park System controls a large and diverse group of parks in northern California. The best known is Yosemite National Park , which is displayed on the reverse side of

4224-1001: The Fire Safe California Grants Clearinghouse AKA Grants Clearinghouse. Funding is provided to the Grants Clearinghouse by the US Forest Service (USFS), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the National Park Service , and the Fish and Wildlife Service . (Note that these agencies, notably the USFS, may have other grant funding streams that do not go through the Clearinghouse.) Beginning in 2001, Title II and Title III funds from

4352-905: The Greater Sacramento area (anchored by the state capital Sacramento ), the Redding, California , area south of the Cascade Range , and the Metropolitan Fresno area (anchored by the city of Fresno ). Northern California also contains redwood forests, along with most of the Sierra Nevada , including Yosemite Valley and part of Lake Tahoe , Mount Shasta (the second-highest peak in the Cascade Range after Mount Rainier in Washington ), and most of

4480-493: The Homeowner's Association in a subdivision, to all sizes in between. There are also several regional associations of fire safe councils. While some fire safe councils have paid staff, such as an Executive Director, and may have grant funding for fuel reduction projects, all FSCs rely heavily on volunteers for much of their work. The community-based approach to reducing wildfire risk is being implemented in other locations in

4608-840: The Missouri Compromise . But instead, the passing of the Compromise of 1850 enabled California to be admitted to the Union as a free state . The decades following the Gold Rush brought dramatic expansion to northern California, both in population and economically – particularly in agriculture. The completion of the First transcontinental railroad in 1869, with its terminus in Sacramento (and then later, Oakland), meant that northern California's agricultural produce (and some manufactured goods) could now be shipped economically to

4736-780: The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary , and the Cordell Bank and Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuaries (both off the coast of San Francisco). Included within the latter National Marine Sanctuary is the Farallon National Wildlife Refuge ; this National Wildlife Refuge is one of approximately twenty-five such refuges in northern California. National forests occupy large sections of northern California, including

4864-776: The Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond , and the Tule Lake National Monument outside of Tulelake . Northern California hosts a number of world-renowned universities including Stanford University and University of California, Berkeley . Top-tier public graduate schools include Boalt Hall and Hastings law schools and UC San Francisco (a top-ranked medical school) and UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine ,

4992-735: The Shasta tribe in the north, to the Miwoks in the central coast and Sierra Nevada, to the Yokuts of the southern Central Valley, northern California was among the most densely populated areas of pre-Columbian North America. The first European to explore the coast was Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo , sailing for the Spanish Crown; in 1542, Cabrillo's expedition sailed perhaps as far north as the Rogue River in today's Oregon . Beginning in 1565,

5120-642: The Shasta–Trinity , Klamath , Modoc , Lassen , Mendocino , Eldorado , Tahoe , and Sequoia national forests, among others. Included within (or adjacent to) national forests are federally protected wilderness areas, including the Trinity Alps , Castle Crags , Granite Chief , and Desolation wilderness areas. In addition, the California Coastal National Monument protects all islets, reefs, and rock outcroppings from

5248-560: The Siskiyou Trail from missions in northern California to British and American settlements in Oregon . Although a small number of American traders and trappers had lived in northern California since the early 1830s, the first organized overland party of American immigrants to arrive in northern California was the Bartleson-Bidwell Party of 1841 via the new California Trail . Also in 1841, an overland exploratory party of

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5376-589: The Spanish mission at Monterey was the first European settlement in the area, followed by other missions along the coast—eventually extending as far north as Sonoma County . Northern California is not a formal geographic designation. Historically, the state was divided by the Tehachapi Mountains which was a barrier to travelers before highways were built, and remains a bioregion barrier. This geographical barrier curves from Point Conception at

5504-536: The Summer of Love , winemaking , the cradle of the international environmental movement, and the open, casual workplace first popularized in the Silicon Valley dot-com boom and now widely in use around the world. Other examples of innovation across diverse fields range from Genentech (development and commercialization of genetic engineering) to CrossFit as a pioneer in extreme human fitness and training. It

5632-431: The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)), private industry, and the public. In the early 1990s, three organizations were formed that were precursors of what eventually became known as local, community-based Fire Safe Councils: Preceding The Fire Safe Council of Nevada County, Inc. was a working group called the 49er Fire Safe Group (local citizens and Agency Partners taking action after

5760-683: The United States . An example is FireSafe Montana . Firewise USA Communities are also community-based organizations focused on wildfire mitigation throughout the United States, including California. The Operation Fire Safe wildfire prevention program was begun in 1968 by the State of California Resources Agency, Department of Conservation, Division of Forestry, (CDF or CAL FIRE) in response to changing wildfire conditions resulting from more and more homes being built in rural areas that were formerly wildland. The term wildland–urban interface (WUI)

5888-682: The United States Exploring Expedition came down the Siskiyou Trail from the Pacific Northwest. In 1846, the Donner Party earned notoriety as they struggled to enter northern California. When the Mexican–American War was declared on May 13, 1846, it took almost two months (mid-July 1846) for word to get to California. On June 14, 1846, some 30 non-Mexican settlers, mostly Americans, staged

6016-438: The "Abnormally Dry" category beginning in late June. By November 8, Butte County's lower elevations had gone more than 200 days without receiving one-half inch (1.3 cm) of rain. The energy release component (ERC), a metric for the dryness and flammability of vegetation, was above average all summer. As summer turned into fall and significant rain had not materialized by early October, ERC levels were well above average, and on

6144-414: The 1830s, a significant number of non- Californios had immigrated to northern California. Chief among these was John Sutter , a European immigrant from Switzerland , who was granted 48,827 acres (197.60 km ) centered on the area of today's Sacramento . American trappers began entering northern California in the 1830s. In 1834, American visionary Ewing Young led a herd of horses and mules over

6272-590: The 49er fire in Nevada County in 1988) was being supported by the local Resource Conservation District, grew into the county-wide organization that exists today. The Fire Safe Council of Nevada County, Inc. began its official formation in January 1998, under the leadership of CDF Battalion Chief Kate Dargan. Chief Dargan is also a founding member at The California Fire Safe Council, and in October of 2021, she

6400-510: The Bay Area east across the Nevada state line to encompass the entire Lake Tahoe – Reno area. Evidence of Native American habitation in the area dates from at least 19,000 years ago and successive waves of arrivals led to one of the most densely populated areas of pre-Columbian North America. The arrival of European explorers from the early 16th to the mid-18th centuries did not establish European settlements in northern California. In 1770,

6528-552: The Bay Area is often referred to as the North Coast , touching the counties of Mendocino , Lake , Humboldt , and Del Norte . The interior region north of Sacramento metropolitan area is referred to by locals as the Northstate , consisting of about 20 counties. "Northern California" was used by Tim Draper as the name of the northernmost state to be created by splitting California into three new states. The bill, Cal 3 ,

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6656-573: The Butte Lightning Complex burned 100,000 acres (40,470 ha) on either side of Paradise, killing two people and destroying hundreds of buildings in the region. In 2005, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) released a fire management plan for the region, which warned that the town of Paradise was at risk for an east wind-driven conflagration similar to the Oakland firestorm of 1991 . In June 2009,

6784-420: The CPUC gave PG&E permission to replace the aging line, though the design did not include line hardening through high fire hazard areas. The winter of 2016–2017 saw above-average precipitation across much of California, ending a six-year statewide drought . One of the effects of the wet winter was the second spring in a row with an above-average grass crop. That winter was followed by that of 2017–2018, which

6912-609: The Camp Fire's ignition, as the company did not de-energize transmission lines. The downslope winds that formed on November 8 were particularly intense through Jarbo Gap, an area where air squeezes through the Feather River Canyon from the northeast. These "Jarbo Gap winds" commonly developed in the autumn, and in the fifteen years prior to the Camp Fire, records showed 35 days with wind gusts higher than 100 miles per hour (160 km/h). Gusty winds at Jarbo Gap began at about 7:00 p.m. on November 7 and increased over

7040-615: The Caribou-Palermo line were unusually high. A 2012 windstorm brought down five towers. After the Camp Fire, the CPUC's Safety and Enforcement Table Mountain Division audited three years of the missing ten years of PG&E's records. Focusing on where the Camp Fire broke out, the audit found "the company was late in fixing 900 problems on its towers and other equipment, including two critical threats that regulators say languished more than 600 days before being repaired." In May 2018,

7168-422: The Central Valley, as well as Fresno and Visalia on the southern end. Though smaller in each case, with the notable exception of Fresno , than the larger cities of the general region, these smaller regional centers are often of historical and economic importance for their respective size, due to their locations, which are primarily rural or otherwise isolated. Inhabited for millennia by Native Americans , from

7296-669: The FAA: Fire safe council The California Fire Safe Council , Inc. (CFSCI) was incorporated in mid-2002 with the primary role of operating the Fire Safe California Grants Clearinghouse . The grassroots fire safe councils are referred to as "local fire safe councils" (FSCs) to distinguish them from the CFSCI. Local fire safe councils usually include representatives from: The fire agency and local government representatives may be members of

7424-436: The FSC, or may serve in an advisory capacity, depending on local needs. All local fire safe councils are independent entities. Some are organized as non-profit and/or tax-exempt corporations; others operate under a memorandum of understanding with a county, city, and/or local fire protection district; some have no formal structure at all. Fire safe councils vary in focus. Some are county-wide, while others comprise only

7552-531: The Feather River Canyon spotted the fire and radioed his colleagues at Rock Creek Powerhouse; they called 911 , who in turn transferred the call to the Cal Fire Emergency Communications Center (ECC) at 6:25 a.m. Additional calls to 911 followed, describing the fire as about 100 by 100 feet (30 by 30 m) in area, underneath the electrical transmission lines on the north side of the North Fork Feather River. By 6:31 a.m., Cal Fire had notified firefighters at Fire Station 36 (located near Concow/Jarbo Gap) of

7680-442: The Fire Safe Council became known as the California Fire Safe Council (CFSC). The CFSC was a precursor of the current California Fire Safe Council, Inc. (CFSCI). Through the CFSC, CDF assisted local fire safe councils via monthly meetings where local fire safe councils, and other organizations sharing the fire safe mission, could network; marketing literature such as a brochure; development of videos and Public Service Announcements;

7808-545: The Fire Safe Council of Nevada County has a Defensible Space Advisory Visit service. Visits are free, and anonymous to allow residents the comfort to ask all the questions they need to ask. Advisors assist the resident to build a customized action plan for risk reduction or improvements that can be made. While defensible space protects homes from wildfire, firebreaks , also called fuel breaks, protect communities. These may also be referred to as "shaded fuel breaks". Fuel breaks are usually linear. The US Forest Service also uses

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7936-444: The Gold Rush era (52%) came during the 1940s, as the region was the destination of many post-War veterans and their families, attracted by the greatly expanding industrial base and (often) by their time stationed in northern California during World War II . The largest absolute increase occurred during the 1980s (over 2.1 million person increase), attracted by job opportunities in part by the expansion taking place in Silicon Valley and

8064-463: The Mexican–American War was signed on February 2, 1848, and Mexico formally ceded Alta California (including all of present-day northern California) to the United States. The California Gold Rush took place almost exclusively in northern California from 1848 to 1855. It began on January 24, 1848, when gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in Coloma . News of the discovery soon spread, resulting in some 300,000 people coming to California from

8192-402: The Pacific Ocean eastward through Mount Pinos , Tejon Pass and Tehachapi Pass , then cuts northward through the Sierra Nevada mountain range to Mount Patterson and the Nevada border. The Mojave Desert and the Great Basin Desert are separated from Northern California by mountain ranges in this definition of bioregions. California's north–south midway division is around 37°N , near

8320-425: The Paradise region were awarded $ 5 million in grants from the fire prevention programs to pay for fuel reduction and education projects. Despite years of fuel reduction funded by special fees, numerous wildfires ravaged wildland–urban communities. Investigations found that PG&E power line failures during high winds had caused many of the fires. Utilities have the ability to disable dangerous power lines; however,

8448-409: The Russian state-sponsored Russian-American Company established Fort Ross , a fur trading outpost on the coast of today's Sonoma County . Fort Ross was the southernmost Russian settlement, located some 60 miles (97 km) north of Spanish colonies in San Francisco. In 1839, the settlement was abandoned due to its inability to meet resource demands, and the increasing Mexican and American presence in

8576-414: The Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act of 2000 (AKA "HR 2389") were another source of funds for FSCs in Counties that qualify for HR 2389 payments, especially for staff, operations, and education projects, as funds from the Grants Clearinghouse are generally not available for these functions. These funds are paid to Counties, and it was up to the Counties to decide how they are used. In

8704-476: The Spanish Manila galleons crossed the Pacific Ocean from Mexico to the Spanish Philippines , with silver and gemstones from Mexico. The Manila galleons returned across the northern Pacific, and reached North America usually off the coast of northern California, and then continued south with their Asian trade goods to Mexico. In 1579, northern California was visited by the English explorer Sir Francis Drake who landed north of today's San Francisco and claimed

8832-482: The Strategically Placed Area Treatment (SPLAT) concept. SPLATs may be any shape. Many fuel breaks have been created by fire safe councils, using grant funding. One example is the Eastern Madera County Fire Safe Council Crooks Mountain Fuel Break. The Federal funding sources described in the section on Funding either require that projects be part of an approved Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP), or give preference to such projects. In response, many FSCs have taken

8960-475: The U.S. who are working toward a common goal: reduce loss of lives, property, and resources to wildland fire by building and maintaining communities in a way that is compatible with our natural surroundings. It differs from fire safe councils in that the Firewise program is nationwide while fire safe councils are mainly in California. The two approaches to motivating community members to take responsibility for preparing their communities to be better able to survive

9088-413: The WUI. At this time, most wildfire safety education was conducted by members of the CDF Volunteers in Prevention (VIP) program. The Oakland firestorm of 1991 provided a new incentive to increase wildfire prevention education and activities, and CDF formed the Fire Safe Advisory Council, AKA the Fire Safe Council, which included insurance industry representatives, wildland firefighting agencies (such as

9216-492: The Western United States were deployed to fight the fire. In the first week, the fire burned tens of thousands of acres per day. Containment on the western half was achieved when the fire reached primary highway and roadway arteries that formed barriers. In the second week the fire expanded by several thousand acres per day along a large uncontained fire line. Each day, containment increased by five percent along

9344-530: The approaching main fire front. Simultaneously, the first Cal Fire air tanker left the ground at 7:44 a.m., quickly followed by an observation plane. The pilot quickly discovered that the winds were so strong—more than 50 miles per hour (80 km/h)—and the air so turbulent that fire retardant drops were impossible. The air tanker returned to base 45 minutes later, still fully loaded. Cal Fire made two more attempts to send air tankers, both of which were unsuccessful. While helicopters—better able to fly beneath

9472-493: The area for England. In 1602, the Spaniard Sebastián Vizcaíno explored California's coast as far north as Monterey Bay , where he went ashore. Other Spanish explorers sailed along the coast of northern California for the next 150 years, but no settlements were established. The first European inhabitants were Spanish missionaries, who built missions along the California coast. The mission at Monterey

9600-691: The best outcomes, with some pointing to Australia's policy discouraging them, instituted following the 1983 Ash Wednesday brushfires in which many of the 75 dead were killed while trying to evacuate. However, 70 of the 84 fatalities listed in the Butte County District Attorney's Camp Fire investigation summary occurred inside or immediately outside the victim's residences, indicating that failure to evacuate contributed to many more deaths (70) than occurred while evacuating (8). Many seniors were evacuated by passersby and neighbors, with at least one account of dozens of evacuees jumping into

9728-520: The coast and generally warm and dry, while winters are cool and usually wet. The high temperatures range from 50s °F (10–15 °C) to 30s °F (−1 – +4 °C) in the winters while summers temperature range is 90s °F (32–37 °C) to 60s °F (15–20 °C) or 50s °F (10–15 °C), with highs well into the 100s °F (37–42 °C) for the Sacramento region. Snow covers the mountains (generally above 3,000 feet (910 m)) in mid January through February. Fog occurs infrequently or occurs normally in

9856-458: The coasts. The Gold Rush also had negative effects: American colonists chose to use genocide as a tool to remove the Indigenous people so that they could look for gold on their land. The Gold Rush also increased pressure to make California a U.S. state . Pro-slavery politicians initially attempted to permanently divide northern and southern California at 36 degrees, 30 minutes, the line of

9984-545: The communities of Butte Valley , Chico , Forest Ranch , Helltown , Inskip , Oroville , and Stirling City . The community of Concow and the town of Paradise were destroyed within the first six hours of the fire, losing an estimated 95 percent of their buildings. The town of Magalia also suffered substantial damage, and the community of Pulga , California suffered some. Nearly 19,000 buildings were destroyed, most of them homes, along with five public schools in Paradise,

10112-584: The communities of Concow , Magalia , Butte Creek Canyon , and Paradise , largely destroying them. The fire burned for another two weeks, and was contained on Sunday, November 25, after burning 153,336 acres (62,050 ha). The Camp Fire caused 85 fatalities, displaced more than 50,000 people, and destroyed more than 18,000 structures, causing an estimated $ 16.5 billion in damage. It was the most expensive natural disaster (by insured losses) of 2018. PG&E filed for bankruptcy in January 2019, citing expected wildfire liabilities of $ 30 billion. On December 6, 2019,

10240-465: The community of Pulga. The tower had two arms, each with a hook hanging from a hole in a long piece of metal. The hook held up a string of electrical insulators . The transmission power lines were suspended from these insulators, away from the steel tower itself so as to prevent electricity arcing between them. One of the hooks on the tower (about three inches (7.6 cm) wide and one inch (2.5 cm) in diameter) had been worn down by rubbing against

10368-569: The day of the start of the Camp Fire, they were setting records for the date. The National Fire Danger Rating System had four reporting stations in Butte County. On November 8, all of them reported fire danger ratings of "Very High" or "Extreme". At the time of the fire's ignition, an upper-level atmospheric ridge (an elongated region of high pressure ) was positioned off the coast of California. Its placement, allowing for northerly atmospheric flow, created an east–west pressure gradient . At

10496-481: The development of world-famous and online business models (such as Apple , Hewlett-Packard , Google , Yahoo! , and eBay ), northern California has been at the forefront of new ways of doing business. In science, advances range from being the first to isolate and name fourteen transuranic chemical elements , to breakthroughs in microchip technology. Cultural contributions include the works of Ansel Adams , George Lucas , and Clint Eastwood , as well as beatniks ,

10624-522: The dispatchers began telling those callers from the far northeastern corner of Paradise to evacuate. The dispatchers learned of the Butte County Fire Department's orders to evacuate the entire town shortly after 8:00 a.m. and then began instructing all callers that they were under a mandatory evacuation, and should collect their belongings and leave. By 8:20 a.m., the Paradise 911 dispatch center had received 132 calls about

10752-430: The energized power line struck the transmission tower. This created an electric arc between the power line and the tower, which reached temperatures estimated at 5,000 to 10,000 °F (2,760 to 5,540 °C) and melted metal components of the conductor and the tower. The molten metal fell into the brush beneath the tower, setting it alight. At about 6:20 a.m., a PG&E employee driving eastbound on Highway 70 in

10880-617: The fire and, overwhelmed by the sheer quantity, began forwarding them to the dispatch center in Chico. The main fire front reached Paradise at 8:30 a.m. between Apple View Way and Merrill Road. At this point it was approximately 0.6 miles (1 km) across, and shortly thereafter grew to two miles (2.8 km) wide as it grew to the south. By 10:45 a.m., the fire had burned approximately 20,000 acres (8,100 ha). At some point that day, emergency shelters were established. Wind speeds approached 50 miles per hour (22 m/s), allowing

11008-525: The fire at Concow Road. At the same time, one fire engine was dispatched to Pulga and began door-to-door evacuations. By 6:51 a.m., the Camp Fire had burned about ten acres (four ha). The fire crested the ridge above the Feather River Canyon "shortly after" 7:00 a.m., and about ten minutes later, it had burned 200–300 acres (81–121 ha) and was spreading rapidly towards the community of Concow. Incident command requested that an evacuation warning be issued for Concow at 7:22 a.m. Buildings in

11136-627: The fire had burned not quite 55,000 acres (22,000 ha). The day after the fire started, PG&E employees noted the Big Bend's line equipment on the ground. On November 10, an estimate placed the number of structures destroyed at 6,713, which surpassed the Tubbs Fire as the most destructive wildfire in California history, but that has since been updated to 18,793. By November 15, 5,596 firefighters, 622 engines, 75 water tenders, 101 handcrews , 103 bulldozers, and 24 helicopters from all over

11264-457: The fire to grow rapidly. Most residents of Concow and many residents of Paradise were unable to evacuate before the fire arrived. Due to the speed of the fire, firefighters for the most part never attempted to prevent the flames from entering Concow or Paradise, and instead sought to help people get out alive. According to Chief Scott McLean of Cal Fire , "Pretty much the community of Paradise is destroyed, it's that kind of devastation. The wind that

11392-555: The fire. By 6:35 a.m., two fire engines had left the station and were en route via Highway 70. They stopped above Poe Dam , on the opposite side of the Feather River, to survey the fire. At 6:44 a.m., the fire captain made an initial report to the Cal Fire ECC, describing the fire's inaccessibility and prospective growth. We have eyes on the vegetation fire. It’s going to be very difficult access; Camp Creek Road

11520-530: The first week, nearly ten victims per day were found. In the second week, that lowered to several victims per day. Victims were still being found in the third week and beyond. Identification of the deceased was hampered by the fragmentary condition of many bodies. Ten of 18 dentists in Paradise lost their offices and patient records in the fire. Two of the dead were identified from the serial numbers on artificial joints, 15 from dental records, five from fingerprints and 50 from DNA. Funerals and benefits were delayed by

11648-534: The ground". The fee was suspended and repealed by the California State Legislature in July 2017. Initially, much of the fire-fee revenue funded existing fire programs; the process of building out new prevention programs was slow, but the revenue did fund projects such as secondary evacuation routes and fuel reduction zones. In August 2018, three months before the fire, fire safe councils in

11776-478: The highest success still failed to reach 25 percent of those residents signed up. At about 1:00 p.m., the wind slackened enough to allow fixed-wing air tankers to operate effectively. Nine air tankers operated for the next four-and-a-half hours: five S-2s , a DC-10 , and three other large air tankers. They collectively dropped more than 69,000 gallons of fire retardant on November 8 alone. Fixed-wing air tankers ceased flying at 5:30 p.m. By 6:00 p.m.,

11904-509: The identification difficulties. As of 2022, a few victims are still unidentified and are undergoing testing and identification by the DNA Doe Project . Traffic jams on the few evacuation routes led to cars being abandoned while people evacuated on foot, but did not contribute to any deaths. At least seven deaths occurred when the fire overtook people who were trapped in their vehicles, most on Edgewood Road, as well as one person outside

12032-401: The largest growth rate of any metropolitan area in California. The state's larger inland cities are considered part of Northern California in cases when the state is divided into two parts. Key cities in the region which are not in major metropolitan areas include Eureka on the far North Coast , Redding , at the northern end of the Central Valley, Chico , and Yuba City in the mid-north of

12160-561: The largest veterinary school in the United States. (Partial list) (Partial list) The following regions are entirely or partly within northern California: Northern California is home to three of the state's four extended metropolitan areas , which are home to over three-fourths of the region's population as of the 2010 United States Census : The following are major central business districts: See also articles: See also categories: There are 11 airports in Northern California categorized as Primary Service Commercial airports by

12288-399: The level of Morgan Hill and Chowchilla . (The geographic center of California is at 37°09′58″N 119°26′58″W  /  37.16611°N 119.44944°W  / 37.16611; -119.44944 near North Fork , northeast of Fresno. ) Popularly, though, "Northern California" usually refers to the state's northernmost 48 counties. Because of California's large size and diverse geography,

12416-501: The line are original to the Upper North Fork Feather River Project , which was constructed in the early 1900s. A 2009 inspection noted three-bolt connectors, used to join two conductors, were in need of replacement, which PG&E said had been done by 2016. In a 2011 audit, the CPUC found several thousand deficiencies, some of which PG&E disputed; it was not clear if the number of deficiencies on

12544-526: The metal plate that it hung from, to the point where only a few millimeters of metal remained. At 6:15 a.m. PST on Thursday, November 8, a PG&E control center in Vacaville recorded an outage on the company's transmission line in the Feather River Canyon. The hook—which was about 7/8ths worn through—had snapped under the weight of the power line and insulator string that it supported, which weighed more than 142 pounds (64 kg). No longer held up,

12672-461: The nearly 100-year-old transmission lines required intentional manual effort. PG&E shut off residential power to some customers, particularly in Paradise, in the days leading up to the fire. Following the 2017 North Bay fires , PG&E adopted a policy that precluded shutting off lines carrying more than 115 kV due to the number of customers who would be adversely affected by such a shutdown. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)

12800-484: The next two hours. By 4:00 a.m. on November 8, a remote automated weather station east of Paradise was recording sustained 32-mile-per-hour (51 km/h) winds and 52-mile-per-hour (84 km/h) gusts. By the time of the Camp Fire's ignition, the Jarbo Gap weather station was recording 18-mile-per-hour (29 km/h) winds out of the northeast with 40-mile-per-hour (64 km/h) gusts. The relative humidity level

12928-536: The northern California coast by Spain. By 1820, Spanish influence extended inland approximately 25 to 50 miles (80 km) from the missions. Outside of this zone, perhaps 200,000 to 250,000 Native Americans continued to lead traditional lives. The Adams-Onís Treaty , signed in 1819 between Spain and the young United States, set the northern boundary of the Spanish claims at the 42nd parallel, effectively creating today's northern boundary of northern California. In 1812,

13056-414: The old inclusive CFSC disappeared and was replaced by a non-membership 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. The CFSCI Board of Directors and its staff comprise the CFSCI. Local fire safe councils are no longer members and have minimal impact on, or knowledge of, decisions made by the CFSCI. The CFSCI is simply one more entity among the over 100 independent organizations that focus on wildfire safety throughout

13184-437: The past, many Counties used at least a portion of the funds for fire safe activities. State funding varies from year to year as programs come and go. Check with your CAL FIRE Unit or County Resource Conservation District or current information. All of the State and Federal funding sources described in this section require matching funds, either in the form of cash or "in-kind", such as labor, materials, vehicles, etc. While not

13312-770: The program accelerated after the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County (FSCNC) received a Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) grant in 1998. One of the conditions of the WUI grant was that the Executive Director of the FSCNC takes an active role in assisting other communities to form Fire Safe Councils and aids in their success. FSCNC staff, at all levels, continue to offer support and/or mentorship to any fire safe council that inquires. Now, over 100 local Fire Safe Councils are active in California alone, with more forming all

13440-424: The recent rain. Over a thousand firefighters remained to search for any smoldering fires near the contained perimeter, clear roadways of debris and hazardous burned trees, and help with search and recovery efforts. There were a large number of fatalities in the first several hours of the fire, but they were not found quickly. Discovery of these early fatalities took place over the course of the following two weeks. In

13568-452: The region. After Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821, Mexico continued Spain's missions and settlements in northern California as well as Spain's territorial claims. The Mexican Californios (Spanish-speaking Californians) in these settlements primarily traded cattle hides and tallow with American and European merchant vessels. In 1825, the Hudson's Bay Company established

13696-422: The rest of the United States and abroad. San Francisco grew from a tiny hamlet, home to about 1,000 Californios into a boomtown of over 50,000 people in the 12 years between 1848 and 1860. New roads, churches, and schools were built, and new towns sprung up, aided in part by the development of new methods of transportation such as steamships which came into regular service and railroads which now connected

13824-574: The rest of the United States. In return, immigrants from the rest of the United States (and Europe) could comfortably come to northern California. A network of railroads spread throughout northern California, and in 1887, a rail link was completed to the Pacific Northwest . Almost all of these railways came under the control of the Southern Pacific Railroad , headquartered in San Francisco, and San Francisco continued as

13952-501: The roads out of Paradise were only capable of evacuating around a fourth of the population within two hours. Residential development into wilderness areas, known as wildland–urban interface , requires increased state resources to safeguard these communities. To recuperate associated costs, California imposed a special fee on property owners in WUI zones, however the fee was largely unpopular, with assemblyman Devon Mathis (Republican) claiming "not one cent has gone to putting more boots on

14080-513: The same time, a shortwave trough (a smaller-scale 'kink' of low pressure embedded in the flow) was moving over California, acting to intensify the pressure gradient. This created katabatic winds in many valleys in the western Sierra Nevada. Such winds form when the cool, high pressure airmass in the Great Basin spills through the narrow canyons that cut through the Sierra as it moves towards

14208-848: The shore of northern California out to a distance of 12 nmi (22 km), along the entire northern California coastline. In addition, the National Park Service administers protected areas on Alcatraz Island , the Golden Gate National Recreation Area , Whiskeytown–Shasta–Trinity National Recreation Area , and the Smith River National Recreation Area . The NPS also administers the Manzanar National Historic Site in Inyo County ,

14336-574: The single digits and wind gusts of up to 55 miles per hour (89 km/h). The meteorologist-in-charge at the Sacramento NWS office called it "a significant red-flag event and one of the stronger ones of the season". PG&E informed 70,000 customers, residents of Paradise among them, that the utility company was considering shutting off their power to lessen the fire risk from downed power lines. PG&E eventually decided that conditions did not warrant it. The planned outage would not have prevented

14464-603: The state can be subdivided in other ways as well. For example, the Central Valley is a region that is distinct both culturally and topographically from coastal California, though in northern versus southern California divisions, the Sacramento Valley and most of the San Joaquin Valley are usually placed in northern California. Some observers describe three partitions of California, with north and south sections separated by Central California . The state

14592-487: The state of California. It has a somewhat different function from local FSCs in that its primary role is to administer the Grants Clearinghouse. Like fire safe councils, the Firewise USA program is designed to reach beyond the fire service by involving homeowners, community leaders, planners, developers, and others in the effort to protect people, property, and natural resources from the risk of wildland fire - before

14720-489: The thick smoke—were able to drop water on evacuation routes over the course of the day, fixed-wing aircraft were grounded until the winds slowed. By 7:48 a.m. people began calling 911 to report widespread spot fires on the eastern side of Paradise, 7.5 miles (12 km) from the Camp Fire's origin above the Poe Dam. At least 30 spot fires ignited within Paradise over the following 40 minutes. Until roughly this point,

14848-414: The three on-duty 911 dispatchers in Paradise had been unaware of any evacuation orders or direct threat to Paradise from the fire. Dozens of people reported ash and smoke between 7:10 a.m. and 7:40 a.m., and all were told that the fire was north of Concow near Highway 70. At 7:50 a.m., a caller reporting "spot fires all over" was told that there were "no evacuations at this point." Nevertheless,

14976-420: The time. Prior to the incorporation of the CFSCI, the California Fire Safe Council was the primary means of networking for local FSCs. After incorporation, the CFSCI continued to host the monthly meetings for local FSCs until November 2006, when budget constraints would no longer allow for the expense. In California, Federal funding is administered by the California Fire Safe Council, Inc. (CFSCI) which operates

15104-479: The town began to burn by 7:25 a.m, and five minutes later Concow residents began calling 911 to report fire in their yards. An evacuation order was requested for Concow at 7:37 a.m. When the main fire front impacted Concow it was between one-half and one mile (0.80 and 1.61 km) across. "Intense fire was widespread" throughout the town by 8:00 a.m., according to a federal report. At 7:44 a.m., spot fires began to ignite in Paradise itself, ahead of

15232-488: The uncontained eastern half of the fire that expanded into open timber and high country. Heavy rainfall started on November 21, which helped contain the fire. Fire crews pulled back and let the rain put out the remaining fires while teams searched for victims. The Camp Fire was declared 100 percent contained on Sunday, November 25, having burned for 17 days. This was five days ahead of the original projection for full containment on November 30, as firefighters had been aided by

15360-466: The utility made a settlement offer of $ 13.5 billion for the wildfire victims; the offer covered several devastating fires caused by the utility, including the Camp Fire. On June 16, 2020, the utility pleaded guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter. The footprint of the Camp Fire had experienced 13 large wildfires since 1999 and 42 large wildfires since 1914. In 2008, the Humboldt Fire and

15488-463: The warmer, low pressure airmass closer to the coast. The National Weather Service (NWS) described this as a "common synoptic pattern for strong winds and very dry conditions". The NWS office in Sacramento issued a fire weather watch on November 5, which was upgraded to a red flag warning on November 6. The warning was effective for the night of Wednesday, November 7, through the morning of Friday, November 9, and it called for relative humidity levels in

15616-469: The west and coast, especially in the summer, creating some of the coolest summer conditions in North America. Since the first decade of the 21st century, droughts and wildfires have increased in frequency as a consequence of climate change . The population of the forty-eight counties of northern California has shown a steady increase over the years. The largest percentage increase outside

15744-612: Was 23 percent. The Camp Fire was caused by the failure of a single metal hook attached to a PG&E transmission tower on the company's Caribou-Palermo transmission line, which carried power from hydroelectric facilities in the Sierra Nevada to the Bay Area . The tower, a little under 100 feet (30 m) tall, was built on a steep incline on a ridge above Highway 70 and the North Fork Feather River near

15872-556: Was appointed Assistant Director for Disaster Preparedness and Response to the White House Climate and Environment Team . In support of the community-based efforts, CDF began including these local groups in its Fire Safe Council. The coalition was headed by the CDF Public Education Officer. Sometime after 1996, as more and more communities started local Fire Safe Councils throughout the state,

16000-525: Was both hotter and drier than average, allowing for 'fine fuels' such as grass to carry over from the previous year. A third consecutive above-average grass crop developed following a warm and wet March 2018. This was followed by the cessation of rain in late April, and a hot and dry summer in Northern California. Paradise received only 0.88 inches (2.2 cm) of rain between May 1 and mid-November, when it typically received more than seven inches (18 cm). The U.S. Drought Monitor had logged Butte County in

16128-456: Was first established in 1770, and at San Francisco in 1776. In all, ten missions stretched along the coast from Sonoma to Monterey (and still more missions to the southern tip of Baja California ). In 1786, the French signaled their interest in the northern California area by sending a voyage of exploration to Monterey. The first twenty years of the 19th century continued the colonization of

16256-519: Was predicted came and just wiped it out." The first hours saw a cascade of failures in the emergency alert system, rooted in its patchwork, opt-in nature, and compounded by a loss of 17 cell towers. Thousands of calls to 9-1-1 inundated two emergency dispatchers on duty. Emergency alerts suffered human error as city officials failed to include four at-risk areas of the city in evacuation orders and technical error as emergency alerts failed to reach 94 percent of residents in some areas and even in areas with

16384-545: Was prevented from appearing on the 2018 California ballot because of a constitutional review by the Supreme Court of California . Since the events of the California Gold Rush , Northern California has been a leader on the world's economic, scientific, and cultural stages. From the development of gold mining techniques and logging practices in the 19th century that were later adopted around the world, to

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