SANTA ROSA, Calif. -- Wildfires whipped by powerful winds swept through California wine country Monday, killing at least 10 people, destroying 1,500 homes and businesses and sending thousands of people fleeing as flames raged unchecked through high-end resorts, grocery stores and tree-lined neighborhoods.
As he fled through the ember-strewn streets of his neighborhood in Santa Rosa on Sunday, Jeff Okrepkie knew it was probably the last time he would see his home standing, he said.
His worst fears were confirmed Monday morning, when a friend sent him a photo of what was left: a smoldering heap of burned metal and debris.
"We live in the valley, where it's concrete and strip malls and hotels and supermarkets," Okrepkie said. "The last thing you think is a forest fire is going to come and wipe us out."
At least 10 people died and two were seriously injured in the blazes that started Sunday, fire officials said.
The Sonoma County sheriff's office reported seven fire-related deaths as of late Monday. In addition, two people died because of a fire in Napa County, said a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. And one person died as a result of a fire in Mendocino County.
Authorities imposed a sunset-to-sunrise curfew in Santa Rosa and said they were on the lookout for looters.
Acting Police Chief Craig Schwartz said Monday that the curfew would be enforced in a mandatory evacuation zone, with violators possibly subject to arrest.
The flames were burning "at explosive rates" because of 50 mph winds, said Ken Pimlott, director of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Fourteen large fires were burning, spread over a 200-mile region north of San Francisco from Napa in the south to Redding in the north. Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in Napa, Sonoma and Yuba counties.
Hospitals were treating the injured while others were unaccounted for, officials said. Additional fatalities were possible as search efforts continued.
One of the fires had Santa Rosa under siege Monday morning, with a large swath of the city north of downtown under an evacuation order. Santa Rosa is the largest city in the fire area, with a population of about 175,000
The area of Fountaingrove appeared to be particularly hard hit, with photos showing numerous homes on fire. The Fountaingrove Inn and a high school were among the buildings that also burned. Officials said homes were also lost in the community of Kenwood and at a mobile home park off Interstate 101.
"It's fair to say it's been destroyed," Pimlott said of the Fountaingrove neighborhood.
It was unusual to have so many fires take off at the same time, fire officials said, though October has generally been the most destructive time of year for California wildfires.
The ferocity of the flames forced authorities to focus primarily on getting people out safely, even if it meant abandoning structures to the fire. The fire area covered more than 100 square miles over eight counties.
Elsewhere in the state, a fire churning through canyons in hilly neighborhoods of Orange County burned multiple homes and forced residents of about 1,000 homes to evacuate.
Some of the largest blazes were in Napa and Sonoma counties, home to dozens of wineries that attract tourists from around the world. They sent smoke as far south as San Francisco, about 60 miles away. What caused the blazes was not known.
Fires also burned in Yuba, Butte and Nevada counties -- all north of the state capital.
The inferno blackened miles along one of the main gateways into wine country, California Highway 12 into Sonoma County. Wooden fence posts and guardrails burned fiercely. Thick smoke roiled from one winery.
The fires also damaged the Silverado Resort in Napa and a Hilton hotel in Santa Rosa.
Kim Hoe, a 33-year-old tech worker from Penang, Malaysia, was staying at the Hilton Sonoma Wine Country, which was gutted by flames. He said the power went out about 1 a.m., and he and his colleagues started packing up when someone knocked on the door and told them to run.
"We just had to run and run. It was full of smoke. We could barely breathe. It was dangerous," Hoe said.
They returned in the morning to find the hotel had been destroyed along with most of their possessions. Hoe was relieved he had taken his passport and a few essential items.
Medical facilities also were affected.
"We've had hospitals that have required evacuation ... all of those take a significant amount of coordination and assets to ensure ... that special-needs populations and others that require special assistance are taken care of. That will remain our priority," said Mark Ghilarducci, director of the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services.
Smoke from the fires drifted into the Bay Area, into San Francisco and as far south as San Jose.
"The smell of smoke is everywhere throughout the county," Napa County spokesman Kristi Jourdan said.
In Santa Rosa, Kaiser Permanente Hospital and Sutter Hospital were evacuated.
"We have safely evacuated the Santa Rosa medical center due to fires burning in the area. Many patients were transported to Kaiser Permanente in San Rafael and other local hospitals," Kaiser spokesman Jenny Mack said in an email. "All scheduled appointments and surgeries have been canceled for the day in Santa Rosa and the Napa medical offices."
Santa Rosa lost a Kmart, restaurants and an unknown number of businesses and homes. The blaze shut down schools and forced more than 200 patients at the two city hospitals to evacuate.
Firefighters rushed to a state home for the severely disabled in the historic Sonoma County town of Glen Ellen after flames reached one side of the center's sprawling campus. Emergency workers leapt from their cars to aid in the evacuation. Crews got the more than 200 patients from the threatened buildings, one firefighter said, as flames closed within a few dozen feet.
Residents throughout the area described a headlong flight to safety through smoke and flames.
Mike Turpen, 38, was at a bar in Glen Ellen early Monday when a stranger wearing a smoke mask ran in and yelled that there was a fire. Turpen got in his pickup and raced home through flames.
"It was like Armageddon was on," Turpen said. "Every branch of every tree was on fire."
He woke later to find all his neighbors' homes on fire, but he stayed behind to try to defend his rental home.
By late morning, Turpen, wearing shorts, a kerchief mask and goggles, was the last man seen for miles along one abandoned road. His yard and all those around him were burned, smoking and still flaming in a few spots. But his home was still standing.
Ken Moholt-Siebert spotted the flames in Santa Rosa about midnight.
He ran up the hill on his property to turn on a water pump to protect the ranch his family has been raising sheep and growing grapes on for four generations.
Before the pump could get the water fully flowing, a small ember from the fire landed nearby. With the wind picking up, the ember sparked a spot fire about 50 feet in diameter. Then it was 100 feet in diameter.
"There was no wind, then there would be a rush of wind and it would stop. Then there would be another gust from a different direction," Moholt-Siebert, 51, said. "The flames wrapped around us."
As he fled with his wife, Melissa, in their sedans, the flames reached their vineyard full of Pinot Noir grapes and crept toward a 200-year-old oak tree on the property -- the inspiration for the name of the family winery, Ancient Oak Cellars.
As he drove through falling embers and smoke, he said, he thought about what he left behind. The sheep on his ranch, he thought, would be safe since they were on shortly cut wet grass. He left behind family mementos and furniture from his grandparents.
The property was dotted with old valley and black oak as well as some California ash trees.
"That is probably all gone," Moholt-Siebert said. "I have a feeling there is not going to be much left."
Information for this article was contributed by Jeff Chiu, Ellen Knickmeyer, Paul Elias, Jocelyn Gecker, Sudhin Thanawala, Juliet Williams, John Antczak and Martha Bellisle of The Associated Press; and by Paige St. John, Phil Willon, Sonali Kohli, Alene Tchekmedyian, Nina Agrawal, Makeda Easter, Rong-Gong Lin II, Joy Resmovits, Javier Panzar and Dakota Smith of the Los Angeles Times.
A Section on 10/10/2017