State of emergency declared in California over wildfire

Tens of thousands of residents near Santa Clarita, north of Los Angeles, fled their homes as wildfires raged across California on Friday.

They faced another day of destruction as over 1,000 firefighters tackled flames in the southern part of the state alone.

A state of emergency has been declared in Los Angeles and Sonoma counties.

Residents fled their homes as the so-called Tick Fire scorched over 4,000 acres (1,618 hectares) and was only ten percent contained by Friday evening.

The blaze forced the shutdown of all schools in the area as well as a major freeway, creating a traffic nightmare for commuters.

New evacuations in the area were ordered early Friday as the fire that began the day before continued to spread, driven by so-called Santa Ana winds gusting up to 65 miles (105 kilometers) per hour.
Some 1,325 firefighters backed by air tankers and helicopters were battling the flames that raced toward densely packed communities and threatened 10,000 structures, officials said.

Six homes were destroyed, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl Osby told a news conference, adding that the number was expected to rise.

At least four other fires have erupted in southern California this week, fueled by high temperatures in the 80s and 90s (above 30 Celsius) and bone dry conditions.

A red flag warning indicating ripe conditions for wildfire was in effect for more than 18 million people in the southern part of the state until Friday evening.