2017 California Wildfires

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[SUB]The remains of fire damaged homes in Glen Ellen.[/SUB]

Wildfires whipped by powerful winds swept through northern California’s wine region early on Monday, sending residents on a headlong flight to safety through smoke and flames as homes burned.

Mandatory evacuations were ordered in counties north of San Francisco Bay and elsewhere after blazes broke out late on Sunday.

“It was an inferno like you’ve never seen before,” said Marian Williams, who caravanned with neighbors through flames before dawn as one of the wildfires reached the vineyards and ridges at her small Sonoma County town of Kenwood.

Williams could feel the heat of her fire through the car as she fled. “Trees were on fire like torches,” she said.
With so many fires, residents of Sonoma County struggled to figure out what roads to take, finding downed trees or flames blocking some routes.

Fires also burned just to the east in the Napa County wine country as well as in Yuba, Butte and Nevada counties all north of the state capital.
Cal Fire tweeted that as many as 8,000 homes were threatened in Nevada County, which lies on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada.

Smoke was thick in San Francisco, 60 miles (96km) south of the Sonoma County fire.
Sonoma County resident John Dean was driving home early on Monday when “I looked over and saw a house on fire” along the road. Soon he saw more houses engulfed in flames.

“I mean blazing, falling down on fire,” he said.

Dean sped to his Kenwood home, alerted neighbors, and fled to the town of Sonoma. He was one of hundreds of evacuees who streamed into a 24-hour Safeway market overnight, while authorities set up an official evacuation center.

Maureen McGowan was house-sitting for a brother near Kenwood, and said both of the homes on his property were on fire when she left. At the Safeway, she pointed to her feet, still in slippers. She had fled so fast that she hadn’t put on her shoes.

Belia Ramos, chairwoman of the Napa County board of supervisors, said officials did not yet have a count on how many properties were affected, either by the fire directly or by evacuations.

“We’re focusing on making evacuations and trying to keep people safe. We are not prepared to start counting. Certainly with day just breaking now, we are starting to see the structures that are affected,” she said shortly after sunrise.

“The gusts are tremendous and it’s what makes this fire unpredictable. It’s something that we’re having to be very cautious about,” she said.

Emergency lines were inundated with callers reporting smoke in the area, prompting officials to ask that the public “only use 911 if they see actual unattended flames, or are having another emergency”.

The National Weather Service said widespread wind gusts between 35mph and 50mph were observed in the north San Francisco Bay region and isolated spots hit 70mph. The winds were expected to subside at midday.

Community centers, the Sonoma County Fairgrounds and other local centers were opened for evacuees.
 
Ten people have died in northern California after what officials are describing as an “unprecedented” wildfire that has already destroyed 1,500 structures and devastated large swaths of wine country.

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Fire destruction near Coffey Park in Santa Rosa
 
Scary...I can't even imagine the fear that these Californians are experiencing right now
 
[h=1]Death toll climbs to 15, missing person reports soar.[/h]
 
The number of people confirmed dead in wildfires sweeping northern California has climbed to 31, as officials warned that conditions would worsen.
Hundreds of people remain missing as at least 22 fires rampaged across the state's famous wine country.
More than 8,000 firefighters are now battling the flames.

The wildfires have destroyed more than 3,500 buildings and homes over 170,000 acres (68,800 hectares) and displaced about 25,000 people.
Seventeen people are now confirmed killed in Sonoma County, with another eight in Mendocino County, four in Yuba County and two in Napa County, officials said.

The updated casualty figures mean the wildfires are the deadliest in California since 1933, when 29 people died in fires at Griffith Park in Los Angeles.

Strong winds that have fanned the flames eased in recent days, but forecasters warned they were set to pick up again on Friday night.
 
Hope all our members in the affected and endangered areas are OK - good luck guys!
 
The number of people confirmed dead in wildfires sweeping California has climbed to 40. :very very sad:

California's governor said it was "one of the greatest tragedies" the state had ever faced.

More than 10,000 firefighters are battling 16 remaining blazes.
Winds of up to 70 km/h (45mph) brought them to new towns, forcing many more people to evacuate.

One of the worst-affected areas is the city of Santa Rosa, in the Sonoma wine region, where 3,000 people were evacuated on Saturday.
"The devastation is just unbelievable," Governor Jerry Brown said on a visit to the city.

"It is a horror that no one could have imagined."

It is the most lethal outbreak of wildfires in the state's history. More than 100,000 people have been displaced. and whole neighbourhoods have been reduced to ash.
 


Fire damage in the neighbourhood of Coffey Park from the air. Smoke from wildfires north of San Francisco created the worst air quality on record in the San Francisco bay area, forcing schools to close. The fires grew to cover more than 300 sq miles (777 sq km), an area as large as New York City.
 
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