SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A fire that raged in the forests of northern California and headed south toward populated areas near San Francisco Bay prompted officials on Sunday to order evacuation orders for some 180,000 people to leave their homes in the area.
Officials said the increase in evacuation orders, from 1,300 earlier on Sunday, came as storms pushed the blaze south from the high hills and wine-making areas of northern Sonoma County, threatening communities south to the northern outskirts of Santa Rosa.
The fire, along with another in southern California, prompted Governor Gavin Newsom to declare a state of emergency across the state and urged residents to comply with evacuation orders.
The tourist city of Healdsburg, which was ordered to evacuate on Saturday, seemed largely empty on Sunday morning except from a Humvee vehicle of the National Guard forces patrolling.
Sonoma District Police Chief Mark Issik increased the presence of security forces in the evacuated areas and defended evacuation orders he said were criticized by some as exaggerated.