Massive wildfires fanned by strong winds that ignited in Northern California on Sunday, October 8, 2017 are now the worst the state has seen in its history. As of early October 10, at least 11 people have been killed, more than 100 are believed to be missing and over 1 500 homes and businesses have been destroyed in just 12 hours. As of late Monday, more than 48 140 ha (119 032 acres) of land had been scorched. More than 12 fires are burning across 8 counties in California since Sunday, forcing more than
20 000 people to evacuate their homes, some of them with little notice, officials said Tuesday. Governor Jerry Brown declared an emergency in the affected counties (Butte, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Nevada, Orange, Sonoma and Yuba) and asked for a federal declaration of a major disaster for the entire state. At least 7 people have been killed in Sonoma County, one of the worst affected, in fire-related incidents but the number is expected to rise. More than 100 phone calls have been made to county’s missing persons hotline, although some of them are hopefully duplicates. READ MORE
