California’s apocalyptic cityscapes are no Hollywood production
The skies across California have turned dark and orange despite it being daytime –– due to the wildfires, as if in a dystopian film no one wants any part of.
In this image taken with a slow shutter speed, embers light up a hillside behind the Bidwell Bar Bridge as the Bear Fire burns in Oroville, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020.
People from San Francisco to Seattle woke Wednesday to hazy clouds of smoke lingering in the air, darkening the sky to an eerie orange glow that kept street lights illuminated into midday, all because of dozens of wildfires throughout the US West. Uncontrolled wildfires driven by high winds and unprecedented temperatures raged across the region.
Dozens of large blazes burned in Washington, Oregon and California over the Labor Day holiday weekend, as the thermometer soared. Temperatures in the western part of Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley topped 49 degrees Celsius (121 Fahrenheit).
Fires forced thousands of residents to evacuate their homes and closed several national forests across California. The skies turned into shades of brown, ochre, yellow and orange as blazes ravaged the Bay Area.
Film critic Kevin L Lee compared the atmosphere to the second Blade Runner movie, Blade Runner 2049, a dystopian science fiction film set in the near future.
It is LITERALLY Blade Runner 2049 in California right now. pic.twitter.com/FAggbTQeNB
— Kevin L. Lee (@Klee_FilmReview) September 9, 2020
Whereas editor Meredith Haggerty marveled at how out of hand the situation had gotten, with Covid-19 masks on people’s faces and skies lit orange because of wildfires.
Imagine showing this tweet to yourself a year ago and explaining "oh no, the masks aren't because the sky is orange, that's for a different thing." https://t.co/nnqoOBk3uM
— Meredith Haggerty (@manymanywords) September 9, 2020
Bicyclists pass the Fox Theater on Telegraph Avenue as orange skies glow in downtown Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020.
Emory and Henry Peters, 2, walk with their nanny Cynthia Chavez at Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020.
Two spectators watch smoke generated by the Bobcat Fire in San Dimas, Calif., Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020.
A sailboat makes its way past the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and lights at Oracle Park Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020, in San Francisco.
Patrick Kenefick, left, and Dana Williams, both of Mill Valley, Calif., record the darkened Golden Gate Bridge covered with smoke from wildfires Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020, from a pier at Fort Baker near Sausalito, Calif. The photo was taken at 9:47 am in the morning.
People sit by heat lamps and eat lunch at a Fisherman's Wharf restaurant Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020, in San Francisco. The picture was taken in the middle of the day at 12:46 pm.
A scorched car rests in a clearing following the Bear Fire in Butte County, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020.
A plume rises from the Bear Fire as it burns along Lake Oroville on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020, in Butte County, Calif.
A flock of birds rest on power lines as smoky skies from the northern California wildfires casts a reddish color during the morning in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020.
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