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Updated Oct. 28, 6:46 p.m.
(AP) — Authorities say about 180,000 people have been ordered to evacuate across a huge swath of the North Bay Area and coast ahead of historic winds that have hit near the Kincade Fire that has destroyed dozens of homes.
Two firefighters were injured Sunday battling the fire that has been raging since Wednesday.
Cal Fire spokesman Jonathan Cox said Sunday one firefighter sustained serious burn injuries and was airlifted to UC Davis Medical Center. The other firefighter who was burned had minor injuries.
Cal Fire said that a Red Flag Warning would continue through Monday, and that 40-50 mph winds were still a possibility through the evening.
The fire has burned 74,324 acres and was 15 percent contained Monday. One hundred twenty three structures have been destroyed, and 90,000 are threatened.
Cox called the conditions throughout California "a tinderbox" Sunday and asked people to continue being vigilant in helping to prevent fires from breaking out.
The inland towns of Healdsburg and Windsor were told to leave on Saturday. By evening authorities ordered evacuations for communities stretching all the way through the Russian River Valley to Bodega Bay on the coast.
Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick pleaded with residents to heed the orders, citing deaths that occurred when fire swept through the area two years ago. The communities are in an area where a 2015 blaze killed four people and burned nearly 2,000 homes and other buildings.
The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office says it is expected to be the biggest evacuation in the county in more than 25 years. Officials have released an interactive map of the affected areas.
#KincadeFire off John Kincade Road and Burned Mountain Road, northeast of Geyserville in Sonoma County is 54,298 acres and 5% contained. #CALFIRELNU #CALFIRE https://t.co/KAUauZDeLM CAL FIRE Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit pic.twitter.com/lUIUHTIQzl
— CAL FIRE LNU (@CALFIRELNU) October 28, 2019
10/27 at 2:45pm current conditions in Windsor. Lots of peace officers and firefighters here to protect the town. #kincadefire pic.twitter.com/iCVi1r0si1
— Sonoma Sheriff (@sonomasheriff) October 27, 2019
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