Firefighters combat wildfires unusual winter in Northern California

Kent Porter / the Press Democrat via APFirefighters in Schell Vista in Sonoma County and Santa Clara County are prepared to attack hot spots in the hills of Soda Canyon up Napa, on Friday.Nearly 800 firefighters and more than 50 firefighters fought a fire of great end of season which destroyed a structure and was threatening several others in Northern California on Saturday, according to the California Forestry Department and fire protection.Nicknamed McCabe fire, the fire that began on Friday morning had burned 2,000 acres in The Geysers in Sonoma County, a rural area north of San Francisco, which produces geothermal energy, at noon on Saturday, destroying a power plant cooling tower.Fire, containing 10 per cent, in rough terrain and tough, making it difficult to firefighters to access certain areas, said Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for Cal Fire burned. He said that dry conditions in the area and strong offshore winds in recent days have fueled the fire and allowed him to grow rapidly despite being the fire season."Absolutely having a fire this big this late in the year is very uncommon, especially in Northern California along the coast", he said.Calpine Corp., which owns much of the land where the fire is burning, evacuated employees on Friday. Apart from geothermal plants, the area is remote and devoid of many structures. But Berlant said that firefighters were focused on the protection of the installations of geothermal energy in the area. According to the website of Cal Fire, the fire threat currently 12 structures.Berlant said that weather conditions have made it more difficult for firefighters to contain the fire."We are seeing strong winds today that could allow this fire to grow even bigger and thus increase the risk of new fires," he said.Additional resources of fire were underway to 783 staff and 54 firefighters already on the scene, including some of Southern California.On Saturday afternoon the cause of the fire is unknown and Cal Fire said was still under investigation. No injuries have been reported.Click to view more weather newsBerlant cautioned that if conditions remain dry state, which has seen little rainfall this season, California would an additional fire hazard later in the winter."This year in California saw very little rainfall early in the season and that has allowed this year will be a season very prolonged fire and unfortunately until we have a good amount of precipitation remain susceptible to forest fires," he said.