Just Earth News | @justearthnews | 11 Oct 2017, 05:37 am Print
Officials fear that at least 150 people are still unaccounted for.
The blaze has also destroyed a part of the state's wine region, forcing the evacuation of thousands.
Sonoma County alone counted for nine deaths.
More that 1500 homes have been completely destroyed by the flames, according to local authorities, who added that north San Francisco's Santa Rosa was the worst affected town.
The BBC quoted state fire chief Ken Pimlott as saying that "17 fires had burned about 115,000 acres (26,000ha) in the past 24 hours."
An emergency has been declared in seven counties, including Napa and Sonoma, by California Governor Jerry Brown.
President Donald J. Trump Approves California Disaster Declaration. #CaliforniaWildfires pic.twitter.com/eWQcBBkiS4
— Dan Scavino Jr. (@Scavino45) October 10, 2017
Following the carnage, a disaster declaration has been approved by US President Donald Trump.
- Nine dead, three missing after flash floods ravage China
- Chinese man pleads guilty to smuggling 850 protected turtles to Hong Kong
- UN weather agency WMO says extreme weather is breaking records worldwide
- Pakistan: 71 dead, 86 injured in KP rains, flash floods amid raging Monsoon
- Four die after cloudburst triggers massive landslide in north India's Uttarakhand, scores missing
