Thousands ordered to leave as Northern California fire rages

GEYSERVILLE, Calif. — Officials ordered 2,000 people to evacuate their homes and businesses in Northern California wine country Thursday after a wildfire exploded in size, fueled by powerful winds that prompted utilities throughout the state to impose electrical blackouts to prevent fires.

The entire community of Geyserville and nearby residents were told to leave after the fire in the Sonoma County wine region north of San Francisco grew to more than 15 square miles.

Among those fleeing the flames was 81yearold Harry Bosworth, who awoke before sunrise to find a firetruck and firefighters in his driveway. As he and his wife drove off, flames surrounded their driveway and their barn caught fire.

“I could see the fire coming, so we got the heck out of there,” Bosworth said.

The fire started Wednesday night near the Geysers, the world’s largest geothermal field where nearly two dozen power plants draw steam from more than 350 mountain wells to create electricity, said Mike Parkes, incident commander with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The cause of the blaze was not yet known, he said, but it was fueled overnight by 60 mph winds.

The rugged terrain was hard to access, he said, and by Thursday afternoon, the blaze raged on the outskirts of Geyserville.

There were no immediate reports of any injuries. Authorities did not yet know how many buildings were destroyed.

Some people were refusing to leave despite the dangers, Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick said.

PG&E announced Wednesday that it would begin rolling power outages, lasting for 48 hours, in parts of Northern California in anticipation of dangerous fire conditions, including unseasonably hot weather and low humidity combined with the strong winds. PG&E spokesman Paul Doherty said parts of Geyserville lost power as scheduled Wednesday.

Other utilities also cut power Wednesday and Thursday to some residents in Southern California, where at least two fires had erupted. Those blazes have remained small.

Noah Berger / Associated Press Vines surround a burning building as the Kincade Fire burns through the Jimtown community of unincorporated Sonoma County, Calif., on Thursday.

Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press Brian Boyd checks one of the generators used to provide power at the Clear Creek Crossing store near Paradise, Calif., on Thursday.