At Least 10 Dead In Fast-Moving California Wildfires

MENDOCINO, Calif. (AP) - The latest on the fires burning across the state:

4:30 p.m.

The Sonoma County Sheriff's Department reports seven fatalities due to wildfires, bringing the total number of deaths to 10.

2:56 p.m.

Authorities have expanded evacuations in Southern California's Orange County because of a fast-moving wildfire.

Anaheim police Sgt. Daron Wyatt told KABC-TV on Monday that residents in the neighborhoods of Orange Park Acres, North Tustin and East Orange were also being evacuated.

Television cameras showed homes charred by flames in the hilly area known as Anaheim Hills. At least 1,000 homes in that area were previously evacuated.

Residents reported ash falling miles away in areas near the Pacific Coast.

Regional authorities have issued a smoke advisory through Tuesday morning for portions of Orange and Riverside counties.

___

2:20 p.m.

Officials say a wind-driven wildfire churning through canyons in hilly neighborhoods of Southern California has burned multiple homes.

Anaheim police Sgt. Daron Wyatt says there's still no count of the number of homes affected by Monday's blaze.

Anaheim Fire & Rescue says the fire has grown to 2,000 acres and is being fought by 200 firefighters, six helicopters and six airplanes.

One firefighter has been injured.

The fire erupted during the fall's first significant blast of Santa Ana winds, which blow out of the northeast and toward the coast.

In Northern California wine country, officials say at least one person was killed and two others were seriously injured in fast-spreading wildfires,

At least 1,500 homes and commercial buildings have been destroyed, and 20,000 people have been evacuated.

___

1:10 p.m.

Officials say at least one person was killed and two others were seriously injured in fast-spreading wildfires in Northern California wine country.

CalFire said Monday the death and injuries occurred in Mendocino County, one of several counties struggling to contain a total of 14 major fires burning out of control.

Additional details were not immediately available.

Official say high winds are hampering firefighting efforts about 140 miles (225 kilometers) north of San Francisco.

12:30 p.m.

Authorities say they expect fatalities after 14 fast-moving wildfires destroyed more than 1,500 homes, department stores, hotels and other commercial structures in Northern California.

The state's top fire officials said Monday that firefighters have focused on evacuating residents and saving lives rather than battling the blaze and protecting buildings.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Director Ken Pimlott said fatalities are expected, but the fires are still out of control and it's difficult for authorities to assess the damage done and the number of people hurt and killed.

He said about 50,000 people are without power.

October is typically the most dangerous time for fires in the state. He said there have been 1,500 more wildfires this year than last year at this time.

The California Highway Patrol says numerous roads are closed in the fire region, which is an eight-county swath of wine country north of San Francisco.

12:05 p.m.

A wind-driven wildfire is sweeping along the outskirts of a Southern California subdivision.

The blaze erupted at late morning Monday in Anaheim and moved rapidly through hills and canyons in Orange County, about 45 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

Authorities have ordered evacuations of neighborhoods and two elementary schools and shut down heavily traveled freeways.

City officials could not immediately say how many people are affected.

An evacuation center is being set up at a downtown community center. Authorities also are setting up a place for residents to evacuate their horses.

In Northern California, firefighters are battling blazes that have destroyed at least 1,500 homes and commercial buildings.

11:45 a.m.

Emergency workers and staff at a state home for the severely disabled outside of Sonoma have evacuated all of about 240 patients as flames from fast-spreading wildfires approached the center and ash rained down.

Officials at the Sonoma Developmental Center, located on 900 acres, in the town of Glen Ellen said there were no known injuries during the evacuation.

Center spokesman Jorge Fernandez says "everybody is safe so far."

Crews got all patients from threatened buildings as flames closed within a few dozen feet of the center's buildings.

Many of the patients were confined to beds and wheelchairs and had breathing or feeding tubes.

Vans and school buses were lining up to remove the last patients as workers in masks pushed frail residents in wheelchairs across parking lots and roads.

11 a.m.

Another wildfire has erupted in California, this time about 45 miles (72 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles in the hill country of eastern Orange County.

The Anaheim Fire Department says the fire erupted late Monday morning and is being pushed by 25 mph winds.

An unknown number of people have been ordered to evacuate.

Much of Southern California is under red flag warnings for fire danger due to the fall's first significant Santa Ana winds, the seasonal gusts linked to some of the region's worst wildfires.

The Anaheim fire erupted as the tally from numerous fires in Northern California worsens.

State officials say at least 1,500 homes and commercial buildings have been destroyed, and 20,000 people have been evacuated in California wine country.

10:45 a.m.

California's fire chief says at least 1,500 homes and commercial buildings have been destroyed in wildfires that have ripped through the state's wine country.

He says numerous people have been injured and a number of residents are also missing as 14 large fires burn.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Director Ken Pimlott say an estimated 20,000 people have been evacuated.

He called the estimates of destroyed structures very conservative. Pimlott says the fires are burning throughout an eight-county swath of Northern California, including Napa, Sonoma and Yuba counties.

Pimlott said most of the fires started at about 10 p.m. Sunday and their causes are under investigation. He said firefighters are concentrating on saving lives rather than battling the blazes.

He didn't have an estimate on the number of people hurt and missing.

9:30 a.m.

California Gov. Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency in Napa, Sonoma and Yuba counties because of wildfires that the governor says are threatening thousands of homes.

Brown issued the declaration on Monday, as multiple fires forced people to evacuate their homes.

Napa County Fire Chief Barry Biermann said more than 50 structures had been destroyed, but there were no reports of injuries or deaths.

Residents describe terrifying middle-of-the-night scrambles to flee from raging wildfires.

Biermann says the fires had burned more than 68 square miles.

9:10 a.m.

Authorities have lifted the evacuation warnings for residents along Nelson Avenue and Wilbur Road for the Cherokee Fire in Butte County.

The evacuation order is still in place for Cherokee Road from Derrick Road to Red Tape Road.

8 a.m.

The Cascade Fire in Yuba County has grown to 5,000 acres, Cal Fire says.

No containment has been reported yet on the fire.

The fire is burning near Marysville Road and Willow Glen Loma Rica.

7:19 a.m.

Thousands of homes are threatened by the Lobo Fire, Cal Fire says.

Between 7,000 to 8,000 homes are threatened, officials say. The fire has burned 500 acres so far and is uncontained at the moment.

The Lake Wildwood community is being evacuated at the moment.

A new shelter for evacuees has been set up at Twin Cities Church at 11726 Rough and Ready Highway.

6:50 a.m.

The Lobo Fire in Nevada County has prompted several schools to be closed for the day.

The following schools have canceled class: Bell Hill Academy, Margaret G. Scotten School, Lyman Gilmore Middle School, Grass Valley Charter School, Our Kids' Place Preschool, Grass Valley Little Learners, Before and After School Program, PIP Program.

Sierra College's Grass Valley campus will also be closed for the day, school officials say.

The Lobo Fire has burned between 400-500 acres so far.

6:30 a.m.

The Cherokee Fire in Butte County has burned 4,000 acres so far.

The fire is burning down Highway 70, prompting the freeway to be closed from Highway 149 to the Table Mountain overcrossing.

Cal Fire says the fire is 10 percent contained so far.

5:30 a.m.

A wildfire quickly growing in Calaveras County.

The wildfire is burning north of the community of West Point. According to Cal Fire, the fire has already burned 150-200 acres.

Firefigthers say the flames are burning through lots of dead and dry fuels. Low relative humidity and high winds are complicating the fire fight.

Mandatory evacuations are in effect for Spink and Higdon. An evacuation center has been set up at the Sierra Baptist Church in Pioneer at 26355 Buckhorn Ridge Road.

5:11 a.m.

Mandatory evacuations are in effect for a rapidly growing fire in Yuba County.

The Cascade Fire has burned about 2500 acres as of early Monday morning. Evacuation orders are in effect for the following areas: Highway 20, Loma Rica Road to Marysville Road, from Marysville Road, north to Willow Glen Road, Las Verjeles to the Yuba County line, Iowa City Road north to Yuba County line, Collins Lake south to along Marysville Road to Highway 20, east along Highway 20 to the Nevada County line.

An emergency shelter is being set up at the Yuba-Sutter Fairgrounds in Yuba City. The facility can handle large animals, officials say.

4:30 a.m.

Evacuations are in effect for the Lone Lobo area of Nevada County due to a wildfire.

The fire is burning near Loxie Lane and Doolittle Trail. About a dozen acres have burned so far.

The Nevada County Sheriff's Office says the areas under evacuation orders are Lone Lone off of Bitney Springs and the Mystic Mine area.

Deputies are now going door-to-door in the area to warn residents.

An evacuation center is being opened at the First Baptist Church at 1886 Ridge Road. Animals can be housed at the fairgrounds on McCourtney, Cal Fire says.

4:25 a.m.

Firefighters are battling several wind-whipped fires that forced evacuations of rural neighborhoods in Northern California.

The Press Democrat reports that mandatory evacuations were ordered after a blaze broke out late Sunday near Santa Rosa, which is 54 miles (87 kilometers) north of San Francisco.

The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office says deputies were dispatched to help firefighters and California Highway Patrol officers with evacuations.

Multiple fires broke out Sunday night as strong winds buffeted the area. Emergency lines were inundated with callers reporting smoke in the area.

Downed trees were blocking parts of one rural road and fires were burning on both sides of Highway 12 as gusts reached up to 60 mph (96.5 kph).

Cal Fire says firefighters were battling a 200-acre (80.9-hectare) fire in Napa County.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press.

In:
• Cal Fire