Thousands of people were under orders to evacuate broad areas of Northern California Wednesday as some 30 wildfires blazed across the state amid a blistering heat wave now in its second week. The state is under a state of emergency.

Throughout the state of California right now, we are stretched thin for crews” because of the fires, said Will Powers, a state fire spokesman. “Air resources have been stretched thin throughout the whole state.”

Thousands of homes and businesses were threatened in the wine-growing counties of Napa and Sonoma in an area devastated by a series of deadly blazes in the last three years. At least seven fires were grouped together as one of two major Lightning Fires in Northern California, a nod to their origins just a day earlier.


Fire officials warned of “extreme fire behavior” challenging firefighters there, including strong winds. Powers said much of the fire was burning through rural areas with steep terrain, making it difficult to get crews in.

Police and firefighters went door-to-door in Vacaville early Wednesday in a frantic scramble to warn residents to evacuate, CBS SF Bay Area reported. Many local residents went to bed with a fire seemingly burning miles away. Then the winds kicked up and the fire was upon their homes, they were forced to flee with just the clothing they were wearing.

Among those scrambling to escape was woman named Diane and her husband.

Source:- Cbs