Wildfires continued to rage across California on Thursday fueled by dry heat and extreme temperatures, threatening thousands of homes and forcing evacuations. California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday said that California had been hit by 10,849 lightning strikes over the past 72 hours, which has helped ignite a good portion of the 367 known fires across the state.
The fires in Northern California have spread from Santa Cruz County to wine country, filling the skies above the San Francisco Bay Area with smoke. Fires are also burning in the Sierra Nevada mountain range and parts of Southern California.
"Fires are making runs in multiple directions and impacting multiple communities. A critically dry air mass is moving over the area bringing strong winds," a statement from Cal Fire said.Â
As of Thursday morning, the LNU Lightning Complex Fire, a group of fires that have affected Napa, Sonoma, Lake, Yolo and Solano counties, had burned more than 124,000 acres and was 0% contained.
Editor's note: Some of the pictures below may be of a graphic nature