Towering flames prompt more evacuations in Northern California as wildfires kill 35

Towering walls of flames prompted more mandatory evacuations in Northern California early Saturday as firefighters continued battling 17 large wildfires around the state which authorities say have killed at least 35 people, left hundreds missing and leveled entire neighborhoods.

The blazes — among the deadliest in the state's history — have charred more than 221,754 acres of land, forced more than 20,000 residents to evacuate and damaged or destroyed at least 5,700 homes and businesses, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

“The emergency is not over,” Mark Ghilarducci, director of California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, said at a press conference Friday. “We are seeing some great progress in some of the areas the fires have impacted."

“We are still at it, full tilt," he added.

A total of 29,500 customers were without power Friday, while 3,900 people were being housed in 43 shelters, Ghilarducci said. With mandatory evacuation orders and road closures still underway, many residents in the affected areas have been warned not to return to their homes until further notice.

Santa Rosa, a city of 175,000 in Sonoma County, was among the hardest-hit areas, with at least 2,834 homes, businesses and other buildings destroyed there. Critical infrastructure was also lost in the flames, including the city's fire station, according to Santa Rosa Mayor Chris Coursey.

As Saturday dawned, an inferno on a hillside cast an intense red glow on the city's skyline and authorities went door to door urging more residents to evacuate.

About 256 people, most of them elderly, were unaccounted for as of Friday in Sonoma County alone, according to the sheriff's office.

The National Weather Service on Saturday morning warned that dry, offshore winds were blowing across the wildfires in Napa and Sonoma counties and urged residents to heed any evacuation orders. Red flag warnings for gusty winds and low humidity remain in effect this weekend across the fire areas in much of northern California and parts of Southern California.

The combination of strong winds, dry air and warm temperatures will create "critical fire weather conditions" and "contribute to extreme fire behavior," the National Weather Service said.

The weather conditions will challenge the more than 9,000 firefighters working to snuff out the flames and prevent new wildfires from igniting.

With firefighters stretched thin throughout the Golden State, hundreds of additional fire engines and personnel have been requested from other states to help relieve crews on the front lines and to prepare for the possibility of more blazes, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Most of the flames ignited on the night of Oct. 8 or during the early morning hours of Oct. 9. Since then, several blazes have merged while some have been completely contained. The cause of the wildfires is still under investigation.