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Associated Press

Wildfires whipped by powerful winds swept through California wine country Monday, destroying at least 1,500 homes and sending thousands fleeing as flames raged unchecked through high-end resorts, businesses and tree-lined neighbourhoods.
As he fled through the ember-strewn streets of his neighbourhood in Santa Rosa, Jeff Okrepkie knew it was probably the last time he would see his home of the past five years standing.
His worst fears were confirmed Monday morning, when a friend sent him a photo of what was left: a smouldering heap of burnt metal and debris.

“We live in the valley, where it’s concrete and strip malls and hotels and supermarkets,” Okrepkie said. “The last thing you think is a forest fire is going to come and wipe us out.”
Officials say at least seven more people have died in the fast-moving wildfires, bringing the total number of fatalities to 10.
The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office tweeted Monday that seven fire-related deaths were reported from fires there. California fire officials reported earlier that two people died in Napa County and one died in Mendocino County.
California wildfires obliterate almost everything in state’s rural areas
The flames were burning “at explosive rates” because of 80km/h mph winds, said Ken Pimlott, director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Fourteen large fires were burning, spread over a 320km region north of San Francisco from Napa in the south to Redding in the north. Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in Napa, Sonoma and Yuba counties.
It was unusual to have so many fires take off at the same time, fire officials said, though October has generally been the most destructive time of year for California wildfires.

We just had to run and run. It was full of smoke. We could barely breathe. It was dangerous
Malaysian tourist Kim Hoe
The ferocity of the flames forced authorities to focus primarily on getting people out safely, even if it meant abandoning structures to the fire. The fire area covered more than 260 sq km over eight counties.
Elsewhere in the state, a fire churning through canyons in hilly neighbourhoods of Orange County in Southern California burned multiple homes and forced residents of about 1,000 homes to evacuate.
Some of the largest blazes were in Napa and Sonoma counties, home to dozens of wineries that attract tourists from around the world. They sent smoke as far south as San Francisco, about 100km away. What caused the blazes was not known.
Fires also burned in Yuba, Butte and Nevada counties – all north of the state capital.
The inferno blackened one of the main gateways into wine country, State Highway 12 into Sonoma County. Wooden fence posts and guard rails burned fiercely. Thick smoke roiled from one winery, JR Cohn.
The fires also damaged the Silverado Resort in Napa and a Hilton hotel in Santa Rosa, the largest city in the fire area, with a population of about 175,000.

Kim Hoe, a 33-year-old tech worker from Penang, Malaysia, was staying at the Hilton Sonoma Wine Country, which was gutted by flames. He said the power went out around 1am, and he and his colleagues started packing up when someone knocked on the door and told them to run.
“We just had to run and run. It was full of smoke. We could barely breathe. It was dangerous,” Hoe said.
They returned in the morning to find the hotel had been destroyed along with most of their possessions. Hoe was relieved he had taken his passport and a few essential items.
Santa Rosa lost a Kmart, restaurants and an unknown number of businesses and homes. The blaze shut down schools and forced more than 200 patients at two city hospitals to evacuate.
Firefighters rushed to a state home for the severely disabled when flames reached one side of the centre’s sprawling campus in the historic Sonoma County town of Glen Ellen. Emergency workers leapt from their cars to aid in the evacuation. Crews got the more than 200 patients from the threatened buildings, one firefighter said, as flames closed within a few metres.
Residents throughout the area described a headlong flight to safety through smoke and flames.
Mike Turpen, 38, was at a bar in Glen Ellen early Monday when a stranger wearing a smoke mask ran in and yelled that there was a fire. Turpen raced home through flames in his Ford F-250.
“It was like Armageddon was on,” Turpen said. “Every branch of every tree was on fire.”
He woke later to find all his neighbours’ homes on fire, but stayed behind to try to defend his own rental home.
By late morning, Turpen, wearing shorts, a kerchief mask and goggles, was the last man standing for miles along one abandoned road. His yard and all those around him were burned, smoking and still flaming in a few spots. But his home was still standing.


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Wildfires lay waste to California wine country, destroying 1,500 homes and killing 10

Flames from a wildfire burn a home in Anaheim Hills, California on Monday, October 9, 2017. Wildfires whipped by powerful winds swept through Northern California sending residents on a headlong flight to safety through smoke and flames as homes burned. Photo: The Orange County Register via AP

The fire-ravaged Signorello Estate winery is seen through a window Monday, Oct. 9, 2017, in Napa, Calif. Wildfires whipped by powerful winds swept through Northern California sending residents on a headlong flight to safety through smoke and flames as homes burned. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Napa County firefighter Jason Sheumann sprays water on a home as he battles flames from a wildfire Monday, Oct. 9, 2017, in Napa, Calif. Wildfires whipped by powerful winds swept through Northern California sending residents on a headlong flight to safety through smoke and flames as homes burned. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire at a home as they battle a wildfire in Anaheim Hills, Calif., Monday, Oct. 9, 2017. Wildfires whipped by powerful winds swept through Northern California sending residents on a headlong flight to safety through smoke and flames as homes burned. (Jeff Gritchen/The Orange County Register via AP)

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World

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Tourists and residents flee fires that are spreading at ‘explosive rates’, whipped up by high winds


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