A fast-moving wildfire fueled by high winds broke out in California’s northern Sonoma County on Wednesday, and by Thursday morning had spread to thousands of acres, prompting mandatory evacuation orders, the sheriff’s office said.
The so-called Kincade Fire was reported around 9:15 p.m., according to NBC Bay Area. It was burning near Geyserville in a rural part of the county, and mandatory evacuation orders were issued to areas east of the community, including a casino, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office said.
“Leave immediately if you are in these locations,” the sheriff’s office warned, also instructing any resident who did not feel safe to leave.
The sheriff’s office early Thursday said on Facebook that the fire was moving west and had burned about 5,000 acres. It was not clear if any homes or other structures were damaged, and no injuries had been reported.
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A public information officer for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection who described the area as rural said earlier that sheriff’s officials were going door-to-door to evacuate residents.
Geyserville is a Sonoma County community with around 850 people about 25 miles north of Santa Rosa, west of the Lake County line.
The blaze broke out as forecasters warned that weather conditions — high winds and low humidity — could lead to wildfires. The conditions prompted utility Pacific Gas & Electric on Wednesday to begin shutting off power to nearly a half-million people in Northern California as a precaution. Power had been turned off as a precaution in the southern part of the state.
Parts of Sonoma County were included in the shutoffs, but it was not immediately clear if the area where the fire broke out had power shut off as part of the “public safety power shutoff.”
PG&E spokeswoman Fiona Chan said early Thursday that around 27,000 customers in parts of Sonoma County had power shut off earlier Wednesday, and areas near the fire were affected.
It’s the second massive blackout by the utility over fire risk in two weeks.
The National Weather Service said that plumes from the fire were picked up by weather radar.
The weather service said that around 11:30 p.m. sustained winds in the area were 50 mph and maximum gusts had reached 69 mph.
Most of Northern California was under “red flag” warnings for an increased risk of fire.