The definite and reference

The definite article plays an important role in reference. In the following

long passage try to locate definite nouns and identify their reference.

Howling winds tore through California’s wine country Saturday night

and into the morning, fueling a destructive wildfire that forced at least
180,000 people to evacuate.

Meanwhile, an estimated 3 million people were left without power as

the state’s largest utility, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), began shutting
off power around 5pm Saturday in an attempt to keep wind-toppled
wires from sparking additional fires.

Nearly all of Sonoma county – encompassing a huge swath of wine

country stretching from the inland community of Healdsburg west to
the coast – fell under evacuation orders and warnings, as the Kincade
fire grew to nearly 47 square mile. It’s the largest evacuation order
“anyone at the Sheriff’s office can remember,” the Sonoma county
sheriff’s department said.

Thousands of firefighters were trying to beat the blaze, which began

moving towards the towns of Healdsburg and Windsor Saturday night.
The fire has destroyed several structures, including wineries in the
Alexander Valley.

The fire and massive evacuation were driven by a “historic” wind event
that meterologists had warned of leading up to the weekend. The
seasonal winds, called “el diablo” winds in northern California, tore
through Sonoma county at 90mph on Saturday night, tossing embers
erratically and making fire containment ever more challenging for
responders.

Reports of smaller fires emerging were expected to continue throughout

the day on Sunday, as winds were forecasted to remain strong.

About 90,000 people had already been under mandatory evacuation on

Saturday, but authorities expanded the evacuation zone overnight as the
fire spread. The city of Healdsburg told its residents in an alert around
3am: “Winds have picked up and fire activity has significantly increased
and heading our way. LEAVE NOW.”

The Sonoma county sheriff pleaded with residents in the evacuation

zone to get out immediately. “You cannot fight this. Please evacuate,”
Mark Essick said.
The new evacuations forced residents who had taken shelter in earlier
established evacuation centers to move again. Officials were now setting
up centers an hour’s distance away in neighboring counties – in one
instance, across the bay.

The new evacuation orders also included parts of Santa Rosa, a city of
175,000 that was devastated by a wildfire two years ago. The Tubbs fire
killed more than 20 people and left entire neighborhoods of the city
scorched.

On Sunday morning, the wind was spreading dry autumn leaves and oily
shreds of eucalyptus through the city’s downtown.

Many residents of the Coffey park neighborhood had evacuated by

Sunday morning but Ken Herland stood outside watering his yard and
the new wooden fence around it.

Herland has only lived in this house since July. His home burned down
in the north Bay fires in 2017. “We just put a new metal roof on the
house, he said. “I’m not leaving. I left the last time.” But, he said, “this
time feels worse.”

His daughter Jessica evacuated the horses at her ranch by the

Pepperwood Preserve, which by Sunday was burning in places. She
watched a neighbor’s video of the fire on her phone. “The ranch isn’t on
fire yet,” she reported back. “So far we’re looking good. I’ll be helpful
until they tell me not to.”

Evacuations also hit inmates at the North County Detention Facility in

Santa Rosa and about 100 patients at a Santa Rosa hospital.

There are no reports of casualties so far. On Saturday, a firefighter

shielded two people from flames with his fire shelter and all three were
hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, Cal Fire said.

'Potentially historic': dangerous winds

expected as fires burn across California
Read more

Concern that gusts could knock down power lines and spark devastating
wildfires prompted two blackouts in recent weeks, and moved PG&E to
once again cut power to millions of people across the state.
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PG&E said the new wave of blackouts was affecting about a million
homes and businesses in 36 counties for 48 hours or longer.

The Bay area and points along northern Sierra Nevada foothills and
California’s north coast region fell under particular risk for wildfires,
Daniel Swain, climate scientist with UCLA and the National Center for
Atmospheric Research, told the Los Angeles Times – particularly
unusual because the area is typically one of the state’s wettest.

“This is the kind of event that makes me personally nervous, as

somebody who has friends and family living in the fire zones in the Bay
Area, and I don’t say that about all the events,” Swain said.

The Department of Homeland Security said on Friday it would not look

to enforce immigration efforts during California wildfire evacuations
and relief efforts unless holding back on detaining someone would pose
a serious public safety threat.

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What sparked the current fires is unknown, but PG&E said a 230,000-
volt transmission line near Geyserville malfunctioned minutes before
that blaze erupted on Wednesday night.

The utility acknowledged a tower malfunction prompted a strategy

change for determining when to kill high-voltage transmission lines,
Andrew Vesey, chief executive of PG&E, said Friday.

“Any spark, from any source, can lead to catastrophic results,” Vesey
said. “We do not want to become one of those sources.”

The possible link between the wine country fire and a PG&E
transmission line contained grim parallels to last year when most of the
town of Paradise burned, killing more than 80 people in the deadliest
wildfire in a century. State officials concluded a PG&E transmission line
sparked that fire.

In southern California, a wildfire on Thursday destroyed 18 structures in

the Santa Clarita area north of Los Angeles. Nearly all the 50,000
residents ordered to evacuate because of the Tick fire were allowed back
home after Santa Ana winds began to ease.

“It has become normal for us,” said Brenda Taylor, 46, on Friday after
evacuating her home because of the Tick fire. She estimated that her
family has had to evacuate eight or nine times due to fires in the last two
decades. “This is life out here,” she said.

Sheriff’s officials said human remains were found within the wide burn
area, but it’s unclear if the death is connected to the blaze.

The Tick fire was 55% contained. Winds in southern California are
expected to pick up on Sunday night, the weather service said.

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