Kincade Fire: Panic as California burns to ashes

The fire, which has been burning since Wednesday night, continued to tear through Healdsburg, Calif., on Sunday.

High winds in Sonoma County, in Northern California, on Sunday prompted hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate as the Kincade Fire continued to rage through the area.

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Approximately 180,000 people are under evacuation orders, the Sonoma County Sheriff tweeted. "This is the largest evacuation that any of us at the Sheriff's Office can remember. Take care of each other," the Sheriff's office tweeted.

Two brush fires erupted along Interstate 80 near Crockett, California, on Sunday, sending billowing smoke and flames toward the freeway, forcing the California Highway Patrol to shut it down. Crockett is located less than 30 miles northeast of San Francisco.

PG&E monitoring 3rd consecutive wind event

Pacific Gas & Energy said Sunday that it's monitoring a third consecutive wind event that could affect 32 counties across Northern and Central California. PG&E began cutting power for more than 2 million homes and business Saturday, including 1.3 million in the Bay area.

The new, potentially widespread, strong and dry wind event is forecast for Tuesday morning through midday Wednesday for Northern California, according to PG&E. The weather system is forecast to impact Kern County late Tuesday through Thursday morning.

Due to the predicted extreme weather conditions, PG&E said it's considering proactively turning off power for safety.

 

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Portions of counties that may be impacted include, but are not limited to:

• ·        Alameda
• ·        Alpine
• ·        Amador
• ·        Butte
• ·        Calaveras
• ·        Colusa
• ·        Contra Costa
• ·        El Dorado
• ·        Glenn
• ·        Humboldt
• ·        Kern
• ·        Lake
• ·        Marin
• ·        Mariposa
• ·        Mendocino
• ·        Napa
• ·        Nevada
• ·        Placer
• ·        Plumas
• ·        San Mateo
• ·        Santa Clara
• ·        Santa Cruz
• ·        Shasta
• ·        Sierra
• ·        Solano
• ·        Sonoma
• ·        Stanislaus
• ·        Tehama
• ·        Trinity
• ·        Tuolumne
• ·        Yolo
• ·        Yuba

The National Weather Service said that a combination of powerful winds and low humidity could create what it called a “historic” weather event throughout Northern California.

A plane dropped fire retardant ahead of the Kincade Fire on Friday in the Geysers, Calif.

Firefighters from the Marin County Tamalpais Fire Crew began to dig a containment line ahead of the Kincade Fire on Friday in the Geysers.