SONOMA, Calif. – Officials say at least seven more people have died in fast-moving wildfires in California wine country, bringing the total number of fatalities to 10.
The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office tweeted Monday that seven fire-related deaths were reported from fires there.
California fire officials reported earlier that two people died in Napa County and one died in Mendocino County.
Trailer park residents in California wine country had little time to escape before flames destroyed their homes.
Nancy Cook said Monday that her dogs alerted her to the wildfire that quickly came blowing over a hill early in the morning and ignited trees in the Journey’s End trailer park in Santa Rosa.
The fire is one of the most destructive of more than a dozen in the region.
Cook says she pounded on neighbors’ doors before fleeing with her husband, dogs and medications.
She and other residents didn’t have time to round up their cats and had to leave them behind in their haste. Some fled in their pajamas and left their wallets.
One person had to abandon a classic hotrod car that burned.
Cook says she thinks everyone in the over-55 community escaped, though most residents lost everything they owned.
In Southern California, authorities say at least half a dozen homes have burned in a fast-moving brush fire
Anaheim Sgt. Daron Wyatt says the fire that broke out on Monday had stretched to about 4 square miles.
Wyatt says the blaze has been driven westward by winds toward heavily populated areas of Orange County, prompting authorities to expand evacuations.
Wyatt says one firefighter suffered minor injuries fighting the blaze.
An overnight shelter has been set up at a nearby high school for evacuees.
