US man beats back wildfire with carton of beer
A California man says he saved his garage from an oncoming wildfire using beer, in a rare good-news story from the environmental disaster.
Chad Little decided to defend his property after his family left for safety, but was caught by surprise when the water supply was cut off.
He still managed to keep the fires from ravaging his home by raking up the dead grass away from the flames.
California man Chad Little managed to save his garage with his favourite beer. CNN
But, he told NBC, he noticed the blaze – which had already burned up his vintage cars – heading for his garage.
Luckily, he had a case of low-alcohol Bud Light to hand.
Mr Little said he had shaken the cans up and then punctured them with a nail one after the other, spraying the beer at the flames and managing to quench them.
Mr Little used Bud Light to put out the flames. CNN
While probably not doing the reputation of American beer any favours, Mr Little told NBC he was only too glad to be a Bud Light drinker – and now he had a ready response for when his friends teased him over his beverage of choice.
Firefighters getting handle on crisis
Lower temperatures and weaker winds are helping firefighters get a handle on deadly wildfires that have afflicted California for days, fire officials said Tuesday.
More than 650 wildfires, many sparked by lightning, have burned more than 1.25 million acres in the Golden State since August 15. That's more than six times the size of New York City.
The fires have left seven people dead and more than 1400 buildings destroyed, Cal Fire said.
Sadly, many of Mr Little's cars were still destroyed. CNN
GALLERY: California wildfires in pictures
Increased humidity and low winds have helped firefighters, many of whom had been working 24-hour shifts, Cal Fire operations section Chief Mark Brunton said.
"The weather's really cooperating with us," said Mr Brunton, who is helping oversee the battle against the 78,800-acre CZU Lightning Complex Fire southwest of San Jose, in San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties.
"We are steadily getting a trickle of resources in, and putting them to work."
Dozens of wildfires raging throughout Northern California have now claimed at least seven lives and threaten tens of thousands of homes. AP/Noah Berger
Several wildfire evacuation orders and warnings were being lifted in Northern California Tuesday. Sonoma County is allowing many residents to return home, and some evacuations in Napa County were being reduced to warnings, Cal Fire said. All warnings for Santa Clara County were lifted.
Two larger fires - the 363,000-acre SCU Lightning Complex Fire largely east of San Jose, and the 352,900-acre LNU Lightning Complex Fire in the northern Bay Area - are among the state's three largest wildfires in recorded history.
Red flag warnings still are in effect for areas covering about 1.6 million acres in Northern California, Nevada, Oregon, and Montana.
Flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires burn in unincorporated Napa County, Calif., on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020. The blaze went on to destroy multiple homes near Lake Berryessa. Fire crews across the region scrambled to contain dozens of wildfires sparked by lightning strikes as a statewide heat wave continues. AP/Noah Berger
Those warnings say conditions that would be likely to start or spread fires, such as lightning, are imminent.
As of Tuesday, 93 large fires have burned more than 1.8 million acres in 14 states, including 24 in California, 16 in Arizona, 14 in Oregon, seven in Alaska and six in Colorado, according to the National Interagency Fire Centre.
Smoke from the fires has made for poor air quality. The National Weather Service issued air quality alerts in parts of California and at least seven other Western states Tuesday.
With CNN.
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