 Thousands flee as wildfires ravage California |
Thousands flee as wildfires ravage California |
Massive wildfires sweeping through parts of California have killed at least 15 people and damaged more than 1,500 residences and other buildings, according to authorities.
Firefighters were battling 17 fires across multiple counties in the state as of late Monday, authorities said. Intensified by strong winds, the fires charred about 115,000 acres of land, destroyed at least 1,500 buildings and forced nearly 20,000 residents to evacuate.
St. Joseph Health said about 170 patients have been treated, many for burns and smoke inhalation, at three of its hospitals, including two in Sonoma County, where at least seven people died of fire-related injuries. The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office said the number of fatalities could increase. Authorities have received more than 100 phone calls to report on people who were purportedly missing, according to one Sonoma County official.
 Burned out cars sit next to a building on fire in a fire ravaged neighborhood, Oct. 9, 2017, in Santa Rosa, Calif. |
Sonoma County Sgt. Spencer Crum told ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos today on "GMA" that the county has asked everyone to "help us out" in the battle against the blazes.
The shifting gusts that dogged firefighters have eased, he added.
"The night before this, we had 60 mph winds, which is the reason why you have such devastation here," Crum said.
He confirmed that the alert system put in place gave residents ample time to evacuate and likely prevented many deaths.
"We have a subscription service where we can alert our residents, and we did that right away, trying to notify everybody where the fire was, where it was going and how fast it was going, and I think it saved a lot of lives," Crum said.
 Sgt. Spencer Crum of Sonoma County Sheriff's Office speaks to "Good Morning America," Oct. 10, 2017. |
Officials with the California Highway Patrol described one of the dead as an elderly woman who was blind and hard of hearing, according to ABC's San Francisco station, KGO. The woman was found dead in the driveway of her home in Santa Rosa, according to the officials, who suspected that she was trying to escape the flames when she died.
Details on the other victims have not been released yet.
Two of the largest fires, dubbed the Tubbs and Atlas fires by authorities, burned a combined 52,000 acres of land in Sonoma and Napa counties.
 Fire damage in Santa Rosa |
In Anaheim, 1,000 firefighters were mobilized to fight a blaze that burned an estimated 6,000 acres and destroyed at least 24 homes and businesses. At least 3,000 residents were evacuated in and around Anaheim, and more than 5,000 structures were threatened by the flames.
California Gov. Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency for Napa, Sonoma and Yuba counties.
 A firefighter covers his eyes as he walks past a burning hillside in Santa Rosa, Calif., Oct. 9, 2017. |
With the flames sweeping through communities, some area hospitals have been evacuated. Evacuations were also issued for surrounding counties that are under threat, according to the Napa Valley Sheriff's Office.
Many residents have been warned not to return to their homes until further notice.
 The remains of fire damaged homes after an out of control wildfire moved through the area, Oct. 9, 2017, in Glen Ellen, California. |
Jeff Okrepkie, a resident of Santa Rosa, said he fled his home of five years knowing that it could very well be leveled when he returned.
"All that good stuff, I'm never going to see it again," he told KGO on Monday.
 Trees burn behind houses in a residential area in Santa Rosa, Calif., Oct. 9, 2017. |
He said he and his wife tried their best to gather their most precious documents, photos and mementos, but it was impossible to grab everything in time.
Mike Turpen, 38, said he was at a bar in the Glen Ellen area of Sonoma County when someone stormed in wearing a smoke mask and yelled, "Fire!" He said he drove through flames in his pickup truck with hopes of saving his home.
 Flames ravage a home in the Napa wine region in California, Oct. 9, 2017, as multiple wind-driven fires continue to whip through the region. |
"It was like Armageddon was on," Turpen told KGO. "Every branch of every tree was on fire."
He said that his yard was scorched and still flaming in some spots but that he managed to keep his home from burning down.
The causes of the fires are unknown.
As firefighters continue to try snuffing the flames that have devastated thousands of acres, the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office is attending to up to "200 missing person reports" and using resources to "reunite people with their missing loved ones," it wrote in a Facebook post.
Crum conceded that it could take a long time for communities to bounce back.
"We have a lot of rebuilding here," Crum said.