San Francisco's sky turns orange as wildfires destroy US towns
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An orange haze blanketed San Francisco in California on Wednesday. Air quality officials said in a tweet that the orange skies were a result of wildfire smoke in the air, as smoke particles allowed only yellow, orange and red light to reach the surface. Photos of the eerie scene, particularly of a San Francisco skyline fit for a dystopian science fiction film, spread quickly on social media.
PHOTO: REUTERS
CLOVIS (United States) • Entire communities have been razed by wildfires raging in the western United States, with officials warning of potential mass deaths under apocalyptic orange skies.
People in the San Francisco Bay Area awoke on Wednesday to a deep orange sky caused by wildfire smoke that at times blocked out sunlight entirely.
The dark skies were accompanied in some places with ash falling like snow.
"The orange skies this morning are a result of wildfire smoke in the air," San Francisco Bay air quality officials said in a tweet.
"These smoke particles scatter blue light and only allow yellow-orange-red light to reach the surface, causing skies to look orange."
As smoke gets thick in some areas, it blocks sunlight, causing dark skies, the officials explained.
Photos of the eerie scene, particularly of a San Francisco skyline fit for a dystopian science fiction film, spread quickly on social media.
"Is there a word for 'the apocalypse is upon us burnt sienna?'" read one tweet fired off by someone who felt using the word "orange" to describe the sky was being too kind.
Much of the smoke blew down from the north, where the Bear Fire exploded at an unprecedented speed overnight, combining with older blazes to scorch over 101,000ha and threaten the town of Oroville.
California and Washington states have been scrambling to contain the rapidly spreading wildfires since the weekend due to unprecedented heatwaves followed by intense, dry winds.
At least six people in the US were confirmed dead by late Wednesday, with officials warning that more deaths would likely be reported in the coming days as many areas were still impossible to reach.
Wednesday's fatalities included a one-year-old boy who died while his parents suffered severe burns as they attempted to flee an inferno 200km east of Seattle, in Washington state.
Five towns were "substantially destroyed" as widespread evacuations took place across the north-western state of Oregon, Governor Kate Brown said.
"This could be the greatest loss of human lives and property due to wildfire in our state's history," she told a press conference.
Tens of thousands of people have been forced to evacuate homes across the region.
California Governor Gavin Newsom said: "I quite literally have no patience for climate change deniers... It's completely inconsistent with the reality on the ground."
California has seen over one million hectares burned this year - an annual record, with nearly four months of fire season still to come.
More than 14,000 firefighters are battling 28 major wildfires across the country's most populous state.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
