California Wildfires: Emergency Declared, More Than 200,000 People Evacuated

A statewide emergency was declared in California on Sunday, as wildfires that raged on with the help of strong winds destroyed lands and structures, forcing almost 200,000 people to evacuate.

The Kincade Fire north in San Francisco spread rapidly as flames whipped on by sustained winds of 70 mph and gusts that reached over 100 mph devoured more than 54,000 acres of land by Sunday evening.

94 structures were destroyed including the Soda Rock Winery in Sonoma County, 17 suffered damages and almost 80,000 structures are threatened as the Kincade fire continued to rage on. 2 firefighters were injured as they tried to put out the fire, one of them suffered serious burns and was airlifted to a hospital.

An emergency was declared by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday as fires damaged structures and injured firefighters in fires that ravaged both northern and southern parts of the state.

“We’re deploying every resource available as we continue to respond to these fires and unprecedented high-winds,” he said.

As on Sunday evening, the containment of the Kincade fire came down to 5% from 10 %. Nearly 200,000 people were evacuated, 90 percent of those from Sonoma County.

The Tick Fire burning in Los Angeles was contained 70% as on Sunday. However, four firefighters were injured trying to fight it. 29 structures were destroyed and 42 were damaged by the fire, L.A. County Fire Department said.

Along with the major blazes, a number of smaller fires too broke out causing havoc and leaving the authorities on the edge in terms of resources.

The Lafayette Tennis club was destroyed by a fire that had started in Contra Costa County.

Close to 1 million homes suffered deliberate blackouts, the third this month, as PG&E tried to control damaged and downed powerlines from sparking more fire. Almost 3 million customers were affected by blackouts.

The red flag warning will continue through to Monday morning. According to the National Weather Service, the fires were being helped by extremely low humidity. The winds would subside on Monday, only to return on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.