500K flee, 10 dead: Dry, windy California goes up in flames as wildfires rage on

People evacuated statewide because of fires had climbed to an estimated 500,000, more than 10 percent of the 4.2 million people in the state. (Photo | AP)

Jeremy Hedrick holds his son Jeep as smoke from the Creek Fire fills the air in a marina, were campers were being held due to impassable roads, caused by the fire. (Photo | AP)

An air tanker drops retardant at a wildfire burns at a hillside in Yucaipa, California. (Photo | AP)

The Federal Emergency Management Agency estimated that 600 homes were burned by the fire that started in Ashland and tore through Phoenix. (Photo | AP)

Rob Price from Central Point, helps his mother Yvonne Webber find some of her personal items in her destroyed home as wildfires devastate the region. (Photo |AP)

Kelsey Mueller, 16, of Armona, pets her dogs while waiting with her family to be escorted from the mountain as the Creek Fire burns nearby in Shaver Lake, California. (Photo | AP)

A helicopter prepares to drop water at a wildfire in Yucaipa, California. (Photo | AP)

A crew fighting the fire was overrun by flames Wednesday when winds shifted and its members escaped with only minor injuries after deploying emergency shelters.

Officials tried to reassure residents who abandoned their homes, and law enforcement said patrols would be stepped up to prevent looting.