Powerful winds fuel forest fires throughout northern California

Thousands of people were told by officials to leave their homes

A firefighter sprays water on a burning tree as he battles the Kincade Fire on October 27, 2019 in Windsor, California. FJustin Sullivan/Getty Images/AFP

Firefighters man their engines ensuring that water is flowing to the firefighters on the frontlines of a wildfire called the Dorsey Fire in Grass Valley, California, Sunday, October 27, 2019. Elias Funez/The Union via AP

A Grass Valley firefighter awaits water to help extinguish a spot fire of a wildfire called the Dorsey Fire in Grass Valley, California, Sunday, October 27, 2019. Elias Funez/The Union via AP

A firefighter sprays water on a spot fire at a home during the Kincade Fire on Vinecrest Road in Windsor, California, on Sunday, October 27, 2019. AP Photo/Ethan Swope

A firefighter sprays water toward trees as crews work to control the Kincade Fire on Vinecrest Road in Windsor, California, on Sunday, October 27, 2019. AP Photo/Ethan Swope

irefighters discuss plans while battling the Kincade Fire along Chalk Hill Road in Healdsburg, California on October 27, 2019. AFP / Philip Pacheco

Firefighters battle hot spots in a foothill subdivision neighborhood in Windsor, California on October 27, 2019. Powerful winds were fanning wildfires in northern California in "potentially historic fire" conditions, authorities said October 27, as tens of thousands of people were ordered to evacuate and sweeping power cuts began in the US state. AFP / Philip Pacheco

California’s governor declared a state wide emergency on Sunday as 200,000 people were ordered to leave their homes by officials, after ferocious winds fuelled the spread of fires across the north of the state.

Gavin Newsom said officials were using every resource available to respond to the fires, including a large blaze in northern California’s wine country powered by gusts that reached more than 164kph.

Mr Newsom said on Sunday that the fire had burnt more than 204 square kilometres and containment dropped from 10 per cent.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, two grass fires briefly stopped traffic on an interstate bridge. The flames came dangerously close to homes in Vallejo.

Another grass fire closed a stretch of interstate that cut through the state capital as smoke obstructed drivers.

In the south, a wildfire in the Santa Clarita area near Los Angeles destroyed 18 buildings. As of Sunday, the Tick Fire was 65 per cent contained.

The biggest evacuation was in northern California’s Sonoma County where 180,000 people were told to pack up and leave, many in the middle of the night.

The region is famous for its wine and the Sonoma Valley is visited by hundreds of thousands of tourists every year.

Meanwhile, to prevent its power lines from sparking in the high winds and setting off more fires, Pacific Gas and Electric said on Sunday that power was out to 965,000 customers.

Another 100,000 had lost electricity because of strong winds, bringing the number of residents affected by power cuts to nearly 2.7 million people.

Although the utility was expected to start restoring power by Monday, it warned it might cut power again as soon as Tuesday due to another forecast of strong winds that are expected to last until Wednesday.

The fear that the winds could blow embers and spread fire across a major highway prompted authorities to expand evacuation orders that covered parts of Santa Rosa, a city of 175,000 that was devastated by a wildfire two years ago.

“This is the largest evacuation that any of us can remember,” the Sonoma County Sheriff’s office tweeted on Sunday. “Take care of each other.”

Hundreds of people arrived at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa by Sunday. Some came from senior care centres.

More than 300 people slept inside an auditorium filled with cots and wheeled beds. Scores of others stayed in a separate building with their pets.

Among them was Maribel Cruz, 19, who packed up her dog, four cats and fish as soon as she was told to flee her trailer in the town of Windsor, about 95km north of San Francisco.

Mr Cruz also grabbed a neighbour’s cat.

“I’m just nervous since I grew up in Windsor,” she said. “I’m hoping the wind co-operates.”

Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick urged residents in the evacuation zone, from the wine country to Bodega Bay on the coast, to leave immediately.

Mr Essick said 24 people died when fire swept through the region in October 2017.

“Although I’ve heard people express concerns that we are evacuating too many people, I think those concerns are not valid at this point,” he said,

Mr Essick said that the winds pushed fire toward the towns of Healdsburg and Windsor overnight.