California wildfires cast 'scary' orange glow over San Francisco
Wildfires raging across California, Oregon and parts of Washington state have created eerie black-and-orange skies over the Bay Area. Local authorities have called on residents to "stay calm and try to stay indoors."
'Scary'
For many San Francisco residents, the skies offered an ominous overtone to the day. The city's renowned Golden Gate Bridge was barely visible from either end. But the local fire department tried to offer a hopeful message when it addressed the city's residents. "We know the smoke, darkness and orange glow is scary," the fire department said in a tweet. "It's going to get better."
'Greatest loss of human lives'
Orange skies over San Francisco were a symptom of deadly wildfires burning across northern California. Authorities in Butte County said three people had died as thousands fled their homes. California, Oregon and Washington are struggling to contain devastating wildfires, with Oregon Governor Kate Brown warning it "could be the greatest loss of human lives and property" in the state's history.
'Dark out there'
Hours before the San Francisco Giants were to face off the Seattle Mariners, the orange skies made an empty stadium look even bleaker as the smoke blocked out the sun. "The lights were on when I first got here," said athletics manager Bob Melvin. "It has been dark out there all day. I don't have any sunglasses to go out there with today."
'Historically unprecedented'
Experts have warned that the blazes are laying waste to large swaths of land. Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), estimated the fires had burned through more than 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) in the last 24 hours alone. "The unbelievable rates of spread now being observed on these fires is historically unprecedented," he said.