Forest fires raging in California for days have destroyed dozens of homes over the weekend, driving more people to flee. A source of fire now threatens the city of Santa Rosa with more than 160,000 inhabitants. Overall, according to the news agency AP over 180,000 people had to leave their homes.
An end to the fires is not in sight for the time being: Until Monday, strong gusts of wind and low humidity are predicted for the region - which should further fuel the flames. "The next 72 hours will be challenging," said California Governor Gavin Newsom at a press conference on Saturday afternoon (local time). It was proclaimed throughout the state of emergency.
In the wine-growing region of Sonoma, about 120 kilometers north of San Francisco, 90,000 people were already requested on Saturday to leave their homes as part of forced evictions.
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Forest Fires in California: Fighting the FlamesMore than 2,800 firefighters and around 20 firefighting planes were deployed in Sonoma on Saturday alone. According to the authorities, the fires spread over an area of more than 10,000 hectares and were only ten percent under control. Nearly 80 buildings have already been destroyed, more than 20,000 are threatened by the flames.
Since the fires are often caused by power lines, it had come to massive power cuts. Finally, on Saturday night, around one million people were hit by a targeted blackout by electricity supplier Pacific Gas & Electric (PG & E).
Also in the Mexican state of Baja California - several hundred kilometers further south - forest fires raged. Most affected was the community Ensenada on the Pacific coast, as Mexico's civil defense authority announced on Saturday. Already on Friday three people were killed in fires in the region and four were injured. Hundreds of soldiers were deployed to fight fires.