Tag: wildfires

A windstorm that fanned brushfires, toppled trees and left thousands of Californians without power focused its remaining energy Wednesday on the southern end of the state, where forecasters warned of the additional threat of heavy rain and flash flooding.

Fire crews from across the state were being deployed to Northern California, where hot, windy conditions Wednesday renewed the threat of fire in the region where massive blazes already have destroyed hundreds of homes and killed or injured dozens of people this year.

Will Abrams and his family packed their pickup truck with laptops, clothes, sleeping bags and a tent and quickly left their rental home in California's wine country after seeing flames on a hill about a quarter-mile away Monday morning. It was their third hurried fire evacuation in as many years.

A Northern California sheriff says three people have died in a fast-moving wildfire west of Redding. Shasta County Sheriff Eric Magrini announced the deaths during a Monday afternoon update on the Zogg Fire. He did not give any details about the people who died, but said more than 1,200 people are evacuated from that fire.

Federal investigators are looking into whether a huge wildfire near Los Angeles was sparked by Southern California Edison utility equipment, according to the company.