Howling winds fuelling wildfires across California began to die down on Friday, but residents in the north of the state braced for another round of power outages aimed at preventing expected strong gusts from sparking more blazes this weekend. Howling winds fuelling wildfires across California began to die down on Friday, but residents in the north of the state braced for another round of power outages aimed at preventing expected strong gusts from sparking more blazes this weekend. Fires destroyed dozens of buildings in northern California wine country and in subdivisions on the outskirts of Los Angeles, where flames shut down a freeway and smoke forced schools to close. The state was under extreme fire danger like it had probably never seen before, Emergency Services Director Mark Ghilarducci said. The fire near the Northern California town of Geyserville burned at least 49 buildings and 34 square miles, prompting evacuation orders for some 2,000 people.

Source: Irish Independent October 26, 2019 02:26 UTC