SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (AP) – Wildfires that blackened skies, took at least five lives and forced tens of thousands of people from their homes have blazed through California – straining firefighting resources by the sheer vastness of the battle lines.
Three major collections of fires – dozens in all – carved their way Thursday through forests, canyons and rural areas in the San Francisco Bay Area and central California.
Tens of thousands of homes were threatened by flames that drove through dense and bone-dry trees and brush. Many of the fires were sparked by lightning strikes from brief thunderstorms this week as a high-pressure area over the West brought a dangerous mix of triple-digit weather and monsoonal moisture pulled from the south.
Some fires doubled in size within 24 hours, fire officials said.
And while some evacuations were lifted in the small city of Vacaville, between San Francisco and Sacramento, other areas expanded their evacuation areas. The University of California, Santa Cruz was evacuated and a new fire burning near Yosemite National Park also prompted evacuations.