SONOMA, Calif. — Wildfires whipped by powerful winds swept through Northern California early Monday, sending residents on a headlong flight to safety through smoke and flames as homes and businesses burned in wine country. Fires also burned just to the east in the Napa County wine country as well as in Yuba, Butte and Nevada counties — all north of the state capital. Sonoma County resident John Dean was driving home early Monday when “I looked over and saw a house on fire” along the road. Community centres, the Sonoma County Fairgrounds and other local centres were opened for evacuees. ——Associated Press writers Juliet Williams in San Francisco, John Antczak in Los Angeles and Martha Bellisle in Seattle contributed to this report.

Source: National Post October 09, 2017 08:58 UTC