About 10,000 firefighters supported by air tankers and helicopters overhead were battling 16 major wildfires, some encompassing several smaller merged blazes, in areas north of San Francisco that have consumed nearly 214,000 acres over seven days, or roughly 334 square miles – an area larger than New York City.
One winery owner said that in his neighbourhood, seven miles east of Santa Rosa, things “went to hell last night”.
California Governor Jerry Brown said: “This is truly one of the greatest tragedies that California has ever faced. The devastation is just unbelievable. It is a horror that no one could have imagined.”
The fires have damaged or destroyed about 5,700 structures, reducing homes and businesses to ash. The fires’ death toll surpassed the 29 deaths from the Griffith Park fire of 1933 in Los Angeles.
Some 100,000 people have been forced from their homes, including 3,000 evacuated on Saturday from the city of Santa Rosa, about 50miles north of San Francisco, and another 250 from nearby Sonoma city.
More to follow…