The blaze destroyed 49 structures and is now threatening thousands of homes, and there is no report of fatalities, the Cal Fire said.
(Photo: IANS)
As massive fire-fighters continued to contain wildfires across California, evacuation orders have been issued in the early hours of Saturday for 50,000 residents for the entire towns of Healdsburg and Windsor in northern California.
According to California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), the wild fire ignited on Wednesday night that exploded very fast, scorching over 25,455 acre (103 square km) by Saturday morning with only 10 per cent containment, the Xinhua news agency reported.
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The blaze destroyed 49 structures and is now threatening thousands of homes, and there is no report of fatalities, the Cal Fire said.
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Cal Fire added that residents in the evacuation zone need to be out of their homes local time since the fire could reach the towns Saturday night.
Earlier on Friday, California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for Sonoma county, where the Kincade Fire is burning.
About 2,000 residents of Geyserville and the surrounding area threatened by the fire were evacuated and more than thousands firefighters were assigned to battle the blaze with help of 10 helicopters and numerous air tankers.
On Thursday evening, the flames had spread to 0.8 sq.km within 20 minutes and scorched over 3.4 sq.km.
At least six structures were destroyed and another 15,000 more threatened by the fire.
The fire came amid red flag warnings issued for some areas in Southern California due to extreme wildfire risk.
Southern California Edison (SCE), another utility in that part of the state, shut off power to more than 15,000 customers in Kern, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties. Farther south, more than 320 customers in Descanso and Alpine lost power after San Diego Gas & Electric turned it off, citing “high winds and dangerous weather conditions.
In 2018, of the 44 people killed, 42 died in Northern California’s Camp Fire, while two others were killed in the Woolsey Fire in Malibu.
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