Firefighters have been battling hundreds of blazes sparked by thousands of lightning strikes. "It wouldn't matter if we had five times more firefighters," says the battalion chief for Sonoma County.
The wrangling over what to do about a sprawling homeless camp in Santa Rosa, Calif., highlights how hard it is to find answers for a growing crisis across California and much of the West.
In California, fines are being levied against winemakers who violate environmental laws, but activists say they are a drop in the bucket compared to the damage.
As the toll from the Northern California fires continues to mount, with dozens of lives lost and hundreds of homes destroyed, small stories of hope continue to surface.
"Make no mistake," Cal Fire Director Ken Pimlott said in an update around midday Wednesday. "This is a serious, critical, catastrophic event." High winds are predicted to return Wednesday night.
Enjoying a chardonnay or cabernet sauvignon? In the 1800s, Chinese immigrants helped introduce those iconic varietals to California's wine country. But as vineyards grew, so did anti-Chinese fervor.
