Rising winds fanned the Northern California wildfires again Saturday, forcing hundreds more people to flee from their homes in the state's fabled wine country and destroying more buildings.
The winds kicked up several hours before dawn and pushed flames into the hills on the edge of Sonoma, a town of 11,000. An unknown number of structures burned down in a rural area, said Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
About 400 homes were evacuated as the fires threated Sonoma and a portion of Santa Rosa that includes a retirement community that evacuated earlier this week, he said.
Winds gusting up to 40 mph were expected to continue throughout the day and into the evening.