Ferocious winds fuel blazes throughout Northern California
TERENCE CHEA and DON THOMPSON
Associated Press
SANTA ROSA (AP) — With ferocious winds driving multiple wildfires through bone-dry vegetation and nearly 200,000 people ordered to leave their homes, California's governor declared a statewide emergency Sunday. Meanwhile, millions of residents remained without power after the state's largest utility cut electricity as a precaution to prevent more areas from igniting.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement that officials were deploying "every resource available" to respond to the wildfires, including a large blaze in Northern California's wine country powered by gusts that reached more than 102 mph (164 kph).
In the San Francisco Bay Area, two grass fires briefly halted traffic on an Interstate bridge. The flames came dangerously close to