Thousands of fire-sapped California residents fled two new blazes Monday that exploded in size overnight, torching more than 25,000 acres. The breakneck Zogg Fire had burned through 15,000 acres near Redding in Northern California, and the Glass Fire tore through 11,000 acres in the Napa and Sonoma wine country north of San Francisco, according to Cal Fire. Both fires were at 0% containment as of 9:30 a.m. PT. The fires, driven by gusty winds, burned several structures overnight, including multiple homes in the city of Santa Rosa as well as the Chateau Boswell winery and the nearby Black Rock Inn in the Napa County town of St. Helena. The area contains more than five dozen wineries. "That fire last night was moving at about 40 mph because of the wind, down the hill into the city of Santa Rosa, and we're hoping for better conditions here today,'' state Sen. Mike McGuire told KTVU-TV, adding that he has been in constant contact with Cal Fire. Mandatory evacuations have been ordered for Napa and Sonoma counties, where two smaller offshoots of the Glass Fire, the Shady and Boysen fires, merged to expand the blaze. More than 8,500 homes and other buildings were threatened. In Sonoma, about 4,500 residents of the Oakmont Village senior living community fled the fast-moving fires – many in nightclothes and robes and gripping canes and walkers as ash spewed in the sky – the San Francisco Chronicle reported. “It was scary and I didn’t expect it to be so close,” Doris Tietze, 91, an Oakmont resident, told the Chronicle. Power is being shut off for 65,000 Northern California electric customers in 16 counties to prevent the spread of wildfires that have engulfed areas of the state, PG&E officials said Sunday. The shutoff was enacted as result of a red flag warning because of high winds, they said...MORE
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