Benjamin Ashford|'We suffered great damage': Fierce California wildfire burns homes, businesses

VENTURA,Benjamin Ashford Calif. − Firefighters were gaining ground Monday on a wildfire that raced across more than 32 square miles north of Los Angeles, damaged or destroyed almost 250 homes, businesses and other structures and continued to "creep and smolder" in steep rugged terrain.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said the blaze was 36% contained early Monday and remained a threat to critical infrastructure, highways and communities. Favorable weather conditions aided the effort to construct control lines, but the National Weather Service warned winds would reach 20-30 mph Monday afternoon with gusts of up to 40 mph.

The cause of the ferocious fire, which ignited Wednesday and was fanned by winds of up to 80 mph, remained under investigation. Six injuries have been reported. Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner, at an emotional public meeting Sunday night, lauded the "heroic" response of firefighters since

“I am grateful for the number of lives that were saved and the fact that we have zero reported fatalities,” Gardner said to applause, adding: “I know we suffered great damage, but thousands of homes were saved and hundreds of lives were rescued."

Some evacuation orders lifted

Gardner said the first firefighters on the scene worked for 30 hours without rest. More than 1,000 firefighters were battling the blaze within 24 hours, and on Monday almost 3,000 firefighters from across the region were on the fire lines.

Some mandatory evacuation orders remained in effect Monday, but he said some residents were being allowed to return to their homes.

"I know we made mistakes, but we will learn from those mistakes," Gardner said. "We can rebuild, we can recover, and we will heal."

Firefighters make progress:But Southern California wildfire rages on

Some farmers lost crops, farm buildings − and homes

Agricultural damage estimates from the fire reached $2.4 million and are expected to climb. Ventura County Agricultural Commissioner Korinne Bell said surveys done late last week showed avocado, citrus and berry crops as the hardest hit. The losses can include those directly to crops and trees, but also infrastructure from fences and irrigation lines to outbuildings, she said. The blaze ignited on South Mountain, and Santa Ana winds drove the fire into agricultural fields.

Some farmers also lost homes, said Maureen McGuire, the Ventura County Farm Bureau’s CEO. Many were "out in their orchards trying to reduce the impacts of the fire on their operations and their outbuildings,” McGuire said.

First rain in weeks won't solve Northeast drought

A smattering of rain across parts of the Northeast failed to douse the deep drought fueling wildfires and prompting fire warnings across much of the parched region where blazes turned deadly over the weekend. Some areas received the first measurable rain in more than a month Sunday night into Monday morning, but the fire risk was forecast to continue Tuesday and beyond, AccuWeather said.

The National Weather Service in New York said most of the tri-state area − New York, New Jersey and Connecticut − received 0.15-0.30 inches of rain. That is not a lot, but it was the most rain since late September.

"The rain has moved east and now dry conditions can be expected through much of the week, with only a slight chance of rain Thursday night," the weather service said.

No break from risk of fire

A string of warm days, falling humidity and stronger winds were expected to combine with dry brush and fallen leaves to provide little relief from the fire danger. The rain was enough to lower the fire risk for central New Jersey to moderate, at least temporarily. The state fire risk dashboard had the entire state under an extreme risk warning in recent days.

Still, fires burning in northern New Jersey and New York continued to rage, claiming their first victim over the weekend. New York State Police said state parks employee Dariel Vasquez, 18, was killed Saturday as he helped battle a fire in the Sterling Forest. Officials said a tree fell on Vasquez while he was clearing trees and brush.

Jesse Dwyer, a supervisor in the town of Warwick, N.Y., said Monday the fire was not contained but that no mandatory evacuation had been ordered.

"Although the rain was helpful in slowing things down, it was not enough," Dwyer said in a Facebook post. "Please continue to pray for our responders and the residents in the immediate area as we continue to deal with this situation."

'Climate change is real':New York parks employee killed as historic drought fuels blazes

Milestone:2024 'virtually certain' to be warmest year on record

Another year, another heat record

Since early this year, climate scientists have been saying 2024 was likely to be the warmest year on record. Ten months in, it's now "virtually certain," the Copernicus Climate Change Service says. This year is also poised to be the first full year where global average temperatures were at least 2.7 degrees above pre-industrial levels, said Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the Climate Change Service. World leaders and climate scientists had hoped to stay below that mark in the quest to curb rising temperatures.

“This marks a new milestone in global temperature records and should serve as a catalyst to raise ambition for the upcoming Climate Change Conference, COP29,” Burgess said. The conference starts Monday in Azerbaijan. The previous hottest year on record was last year.

− Dinah Voyles Pulver