At least 11 people were killed and more than 100 others were injured on Monday as massive wildfires swept through parts of California, destroying 1,500 residences and buildings, authorities said.
Firefighters were battling 17 fires across multiple counties around the state as of late Monday night, authorities said. Intensified by strong winds, the fires charred about 90,000 acres of land, destroyed at least 1,500 buildings and forced nearly 20,000 residents to evacuate.
St. Joseph Health said about 170 patients have been treated, many for burns and smoke inhalation, at three of its hospitals, including two in Sonoma County, where at least seven people died of fire-related injuries. The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office said the number of fatalities could increase. Authorities have received more than 100 phone calls to report on people who were purportedly missing, according to one Sonoma County official.
PHOTO: A firefighter covers his eyes as he walks past a burning hillside in Santa Rosa, Calif., Oct. 9, 2017.Jeff Chiu/AP
A firefighter covers his eyes as he walks past a burning hillside in Santa Rosa, Calif., Oct. 9, 2017.
Officials with the California Highway Patrol described one of the dead as an elderly woman who was blind and hard of hearing, according to ABC's San Francisco station KGO. The woman was found dead in the driveway of her home in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, according to the officials, who suspected that she may have been trying to escape the flames when she she died.
Details on the other victims have not been released yet.
Two of the largest blazes, dubbed the Tubbs and Atlas Fires by authorities, burned a combined 52,000 acres of land in Sonoma and Napa counties.
In Anaheim, 1,000 firefighters were mobilized to fight a blaze that burned an estimated 6,000 acres and destroyed at least 24 homes and businesses. At least 3,000 residents were evacuated in and around Anaheim and more than 5,000 structures were threatened by the flames.
California Gov. Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency for Napa, Sonoma and Yuba counties.
The remains of fire damaged homes after an out of control wildfire moved through the area, Oct. 9, 2017, in Glen Ellen, California. more +
With the flames sweeping through entire communities, some area hospitals have been evacuated. Evacuations were also issued for surrounding counties that are under threat, according to the Napa Valley Sheriff's Office.
Many residents have been warned not to return to their homes until further notice.
PHOTO: Trees burn behind houses in a residential area in Santa Rosa, Calif., Oct. 9, 2017. Jeff Chiu/AP
Trees burn behind houses in a residential area in Santa Rosa, Calif., Oct. 9, 2017.
Witnesses in Fountain Grove area near Santa Rosa said the flames there were so intense they melted the glass off of car and liquefied aluminum objects.
Jeff Okrepkie, a resident of Santa Rosa, said he fled his home of five years, knowing that it could very well be leveled once he returned. He seemed to be braced for he worst.
"All that good stuff, I'm never going to see it again," Okrepkie told KGO on Monday.
PHOTO: The remains of a car sits near the Fountaingrove Inn Hotel as it burns at rear in Santa Rosa, Calif., Oct. 9, 2017.Jeff Chiu/AP
The remains of a car sits near the Fountaingrove Inn Hotel as it burns at rear in Santa Rosa, Calif., Oct. 9, 2017.
He said he and his wife tried their best to gather their most precious documents, photos and mementos, but it was impossible to grab everything in time.
Thirty-eight-year-old Mike Turpen said he was at a bar in the Glen Ellen area of Sonoma County when someone stormed in wearing a smoke mask and yelled "fire." He said he rushed through flames in his Ford pickup truck with hopes of saving his home.
PHOTO: Flames ravage a home in the Napa wine region in California, Oct. 9, 2017, as multiple wind-driven fires continue to whip through the region.Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images
Flames ravage a home in the Napa wine region in California, Oct. 9, 2017, as multiple wind-driven fires continue to whip through the region.more +
"It was like Armageddon was on," Turpen told KGO. "Every branch of every tree was on fire," he said, recalling his drive home.
Turpen said his yard, like those surrounding it, was scorched and still flaming in some spots, but he said he managed to keep his home from burning down.
The causes of the fires are unknown.
