New wildfire in N. California forces nearly 50,000 to evacuate

2020-09-29 03:47:03 GMT2020-09-29 11:47:03(Beijing Time) Xinhua English

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- A fast-moving wildfire that burned across Northern California's Napa and Sonoma counties early Monday morning has forced nearly 50,000 residents to flee, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).

The Glass Fire, the largest in the Bay Area and one of 27 blazes currently burning around California, swelled to 11,000 acres with zero containment by Monday morning, Cal Fire said.

More than 8,000 new acres burned overnight, more than 8,500 structures remain under threat, but there have not been any injuries reported as of late Monday morning. An estimated 48,500 people have been evacuated, fire officials said.

Santa Rosa Fire Chief Tony Gossner said he could not quantify the number of homes destroyed in the Santa Rosa area, but he said there was "significant loss."

Hot and dry conditions will continue through the day. Heavy smoke also forced fire crews to pause their aerial attack because of limited visibility, according to a report by San Jose-based The Mercury News.

Meanwhile, in Shasta County, the Zogg Fire also erupted overnight and prompted more evacuations. The blaze had grown to 15,000 acres with zero containment as of Monday morning, according to Cal Fire. 

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