Fairview Fire Rages in Southern California, As Storm Threatens to Bring Floods
Riverside County, already facing a growing wildfire, was placed under multiple extreme weather advisories on Friday as a tropical storm threatened to bring high winds, lightning, flooding and mudslides to the area in Southern California.
By Thursday evening, the Fairview fire had burned more than 27,000 acres of Riverside County, killing two people. Only 5 percent of the blaze has been contained. The state firefighting agency, Cal Fire, had deployed 2,153 firefighters, and more than 18,500 people had been ordered to evacuate.
Emergency officials were also on alert for a looming storm. The National Weather Service placed the county under an excessive heat warning, a flood watch and a high wind warning as Tropical Storm Kay, previously categorized as a hurricane, approached the coast of Baja California in Mexico early Friday.
The overlapping advisories might set off a chain reaction that makes the response to each event more difficult, according to local officials. While they expected the rain to suppress some fires, they were prepared for the storm to bring lightning, which could start new blazes. Strong winds up to 75 miles an hour in the mountains and desert could speed the fires spread, too.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/fairview-fire-rages-in-southern-california-as-storm-threatens-to-bring-floods/ar-AA11DD4p