Sacramento TV station apologizes for saying Glass Fire "near Vacaville"
In a series of tweets published on Monday, a local media outlet incorrectly said the 42,000 acre wildfire was burning near Vacaville.
A Sacramento television station has apologized for a series of social media posts that claimed a large wildfire was burning “near Vacaville” when it was not.
The posts related to a news conference held by officials in Napa and Sonoma counties on Monday to discuss the progression of the Glass Fire, a series of three wind-whipped wildfires that have burned tens of thousands of acres and destroyed more than 100 homes and other structures since it started on Sunday.
On Twitter and Facebook, Sacramento ABC affiliate KXTV (Channel 10) promoted a live stream of the press conference with a description that said the fire was burning “near Vacaville.” When irate Twitter users pointed out that the Glass Fire was burning nowhere near Vacaville, a web producer for the station replied that the proximity of the fire to Vacaville was correct because it takes around 45 minutes to drive from Solano County to the city of Napa. (The wildfire is burning in the northern portion of Napa County, not near the city of Napa.)
Following a late night email sent by Solano News Update, KXTV news director Jill Manuel promised to investigate the social media posts. Around midnight, the station issued a correction and an apology.
“Our earlier tweet said the fire was near Vacaville,” a station web producer wrote. “The fire is not near Vacaville. We are sorry for the confusion and concern caused by this mistake and the reply.”
Residents throughout Solano County remain on edge after a wildfire crossed over a ridge separating Napa County from Solano and Yolo counties last month. The LNU Lightning Complex fire destroyed more than 200 structures in Solano County and claimed the lives of three individuals there.
Over the weekend, forecasters with the National Weather Service issued a Red Flag Warning for dangerous weather conditions that were projected to cause new, fast-moving wildfires. The Glass Fire started shortly after the weather warning took effect early Sunday morning.
A second blaze known as the Shady Fire formed west of the Glass Fire’s location Sunday evening and quickly began advancing on eastern portions of Santa Rosa, a community that was devastated by a similar wildfire in 2017.
Those two fires and a separate, third wildfire are now being reported collectively as the Glass Fire complex. The wildfire complex has burned more than 42,000 acres and destroyed over 100 homes as of Tuesday evening.
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