Santa Rosa (US), Oct 12 (AFP) Firefighters from aroundthe United States were joining the grim battle today againstmassive wildfires that have killed at least 23 people and areamong the worst in California's history.
Dry, gusty winds were returning to the area, hamperingthe efforts of thousands of exhausted firefighters seeking tocontain nearly two dozen blazes raging across the westernstate.
The National Weather Service said wind gusts of up to 50miles (80 kilometers) per hour were forecast in some areas andthe "critical fire weather conditions" would continue into theweekend.
Evacuation orders were issued for more towns in wine-producing Napa and Sonoma counties where hundreds of peoplehave already lost their homes to the fast-moving infernos.
Residents of Calistoga, a resort town of some 5,000people in Napa, and Geyserville, a town of around 800 peoplein Sonoma, were told to leave their homes and seek shelterelsewhere.
Entire neighborhoods in Santa Rosa have been reduced toashes and evacuation orders were issued for more parts of thedevastated city of 175,000 people in Sonoma County.
"We've had big fires in the past," California GovernorJerry Brown said at a briefing yesterday. "This is one of thebiggest, most serious.
"It's not over."Twenty-three deaths have been reported so far -- 13 inSonoma County, six in Mendocino County, two in Yuba County andtwo in Napa County -- but officials have warned they expectthe toll to rise.
The Sonoma County Sheriff's Department said yesterday ithas received around 600 reports of missing persons.
Some 300 have been located and the authorities arehopeful that most of the rest would eventually be found safe,unable so far to contact relatives or friends because of poorcommunications.
More than 300 fire engines from neighboring states andelsewhere are being rushed to California to help battle theblazes along with 60 firefighting crews.
"This is a serious, critical, catastrophic event,"California fire chief Ken Pimlott told reporters yesterday.
"Our primary goal is to get these resources into the fires."Pimlott, the director of the California Department ofForestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), said the lingeringeffects of five years of drought were fueling the fires.
"We are literally looking at explosive vegetation," hesaid.
Thousands of people have been left homeless and 25,000people have evacuated their homes in Sonoma County alone,according to officials.
More than 3,500 homes and businesses have been destroyedincluding several wineries in Sonoma and Napa counties, theheart of the state's wine production.
Pimlott said firefighters were battling a total of 22wildfires that have burned over 170,000 acres.
He said 73 helicopters, 30 air tankers and nearly 8,000firefighters were currently taking part in the effort toextinguish the blazes.
President Donald Trump has declared a major disaster inCalifornia, freeing up federal funding and resources to helpfight the fires, and Governor Brown has declared a state ofemergency in eight counties. (AFP)RB.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.