By Cassidy Lee
Copy Editor

As wildfires sweep across California, firefighters continue to suppress and contain the flames. However, the trail of fires has left communities in devastation.
Donation efforts for the Kincade fire have begun. Residents of San Jose have offered their support as well as Amazon and non-profit organizations.

“I know that they need help,” said Gabriel Lopez, a San Jose business owner, to ABC 7. “For me just to go through the situations I’m going through, it’s nothing. They had to leave everything behind.”
Multiple fires across California have left communities with immense damage and homes burned.
On Nov. 2, the Kincade Fire in Sonoma County burned over 77,000 acres, though firefighters had the fire 76 percent contained.
According to Cal Fire, there are no reported missing people from the fire and at least 374 structures were destroyed.
On Oct. 31, the Maria fire swept through Ventura County forcing thousands of people out of their homes. The fires in Riverside and San Bernardino County also caused immediate evacuations.
According to CBS News, “The Maria Fire grew to more than 8,700 acres in Ventura County, northwest of Los Angeles.”
The blaze threatened thousands of homes and grew exponentially in the span of one night.
Residents feared that the Kincade fire would be as destructive as the Paradise and Camp fires were in 2018, which caused the deaths of 24 people. However, there were no fatalities from the Kincade fire.
Fires starting overnight caused the immediate and mandatory evacuations of residents from their homes and businesses in Sonoma County.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, “A total of 349 structures — at least 165 of them homes — were destroyed by the flames, and another 55 were damaged.”
Fires in Southern California were caused by dry brush and air mixed with heavy and strong winds. Fires were fueled by the Santa Ana winds that pushed flames towards Ventura and San Bernardino County.
“At Riverside Municipal Airport, gusts of 25 mph to 30 mph winds were recorded near a fire in Jurupa Valley,” stated meteorologist Jimmy Taeger to the Los Angeles Times.
In the early morning of Oct. 30, the Easy fire threatened the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Ventura County.
“Unfortunately it was about the worst time it could happen,” stated Ventura County Fire Chief, Mike Lorenzen to the Los Angeles Times. “40-mile-an-hour sustained winds and fuels that were ripe and ready to carry fire.”
Firefighters managed to battle the flames and control the wildfire by ten percent, sparing the Presidential Library.
The Santa Ana and Diablo winds have decreased in strength from gusts at 35 mph to 20 mph.