Wildfires sweep through N. California forcing over 20,000 people to evacuate

More than 20 wildfires erupted from Sunday night to Monday in California, killing 10, seriously injuring at least two, destroying at least 1,500 structures and forcing over 20,000 people to evacuate by Monday afternoon.


"There have been three confirmed fatalities, but I don't have a number of injures," Daniel Berlant, assistant deputy director of California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), told Xinhua Monday afternoon, adding that the cause of the fires remains under investigation.

The CA Statewide Fire Summary signed by Berlant at noon said "overnight significant winds fanned over a dozen fires across Northern California. 15 new wind whipped wildfires in eight countries have already burned over 73,000 acres (about 29,543 hectares) in the past 12 hours."

Meanwhile, Sonoma County Sheriff's Office tweeted that an additional seven fire-related deaths had been confirmed. "The focus continues to be the evacuations of thousands of residents and protecting property," Berlant said.

California Governor Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency in Napa, Sonoma and Yuba counties, due to the effects of the multiple fires, which have damaged 1,500 structures, threatened thousands of homes and caused the evacuation of more than 20,000 residents.
  [china.org.cn/Xinhua]
 10/10/17