180,000 flee as California burns

AROUND 180,000 people were ordered to leave their homes yesterday as wildfires continued to ravage northern California’s wine country.

The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office expanded the evacuation order overnight to cover parts of Santa Rosa. The city of 175,000 inhabitants was hit by a wildfire two years ago which destroyed thousands of homes and killed 22.

Officials reported last night that the so-called Kincade Fire, which began on Wednesday, has already burned at least 40 square miles of land, destroyed 79 structures and threatens another 31,000. They added that they feared 90mph winds could blow embers and cause the fire to jump a major road and spread to population centres.

Authorities ordered the evacuation early on Sunday as winds prompted the state’s largest utility company to shut power to 2.3million people to prevent blazes breaking out.