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Flames from a backfire, lit by firefighters to slow the spread of the Kincade Fire, burn a hillside in unincorporated Sonoma County, Calif., near Geyservillle on Saturday.[/caption]
Los Angeles, Oct. 28 (IANS): A wind-driven wildfire, dubbed the Kincade Fire, has almost doubled its size in Northern California, growing from 121.4 sq.km to 219.7 sq.km in a short span of time.
According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), the four-day-old wildfire had left 94 buildings destroyed and 17 more damaged, forcing evacuations of 180,000 residents in the state’s famed Wine Country region, reports Xinhua news agency.
So far, the Kincade Fire was regarded as the most destructive wild fire of the year in northern California, with over 3,400 individuals battling it.
As the blaze continued and showed no signs of dying down on Sunday, firefighters’ containment of its edges dropped from 10 per cent in the morning to 5 per cent by nightfall.
“It’s looking pretty ugly out there right now,” Cal Fire spokesman Scott McLean said Sunday, adding that there were no reports of deaths but two firefighters were injured.
The authority also warned that more evacuation orders could be issued.
California Governor Gavin Newsom on Sunday declared a state-wide emergency because of what his office called “the effects of unprecedented high-wind events which have resulted in fires and evacuations across the state”. Newsom urged residents in evacuation zones to heed the orders from fire fighters and first responders.
Meanwhile, the Sacramento Bee newspaper reported Sunday that some evacuation centres had already been filled to capacity by Sunday morning.
Some shelters were packed overnight to the point where people were sleeping in chairs against the wall because there weren’t enough cots, the report said.
