Photo: APSanta Rosa, US: Firefighters battled wildfires in California’s wine region as the death toll rose to 15 and thousands were left homeless in neighbourhoods reduced to ashes. “The homes are gone, they are like dust,” said Jack Dixon on Tuesday, a personal trainer who lives in Santa Rosa, a city of 175,000 in Sonoma County. The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department said on its Facebook page it had received reports of 200 missing people. About 25,000 people have been evacuated in Sonoma County alone, the department said, and 5,000 have sought refuge in shelters. The Sonoma County Hilton perched on a hill overlooking 101 was a smoldering ruin of charred wood and twisted metal, as was the nearby Fountaingrove Inn.

Source: Mint October 11, 2017 04:18 UTC