SANTA MARIA, Calif. (AP) — Two major wildfires in California have sent nearly 8,000 people fleeing to safety.
Fire officials said on Sunday 4,000 people evacuated and other 7,400 were told to prepare to leave their homes as a fire swept through grassy foothills in the Sierra Nevada, about 60 miles north of Sacramento.
A California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokeswoman said that fire has burned nearly 8 square miles and has destroyed at least 10 structures.
Mary Ann Aldrich said additional homes were destroyed overnight. An inspection team is trying to determine the extent of the damage.
In Southern California, some 3,600 people evacuated as a result of a wildfire in the Santa Ynez Valley east of Santa Barbara. The fire sent hundreds of campers, including a group of 90 children, scrambling when it began Saturday and burned on both sides of State Route 154.