North Bay Fires: What Took Authorities So Long to Warn People?

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Cal Fire dispatcher Eric Pastrama came in on the night of Oct. 8. One of his first jobs that night was to call in more staff as the fires spread. Photo by Lisa Pickoff-White/KQED

By Marisa Lagos, Sukey Lewis and Lisa Pickoff-White, KQED News Fix

Around 10 p.m. on the night of Oct. 8, 2017, an unidentified woman frantically called 911.

“We are blocked, and we can’t get out of here,” she said.

It was her second call of the night, and her voice sounded shaky. She was trapped behind a tree in the Franz Valley area northwest of Calistoga as a neighboring house went up in flames.

Read the complete story at KQED News Fix.

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