A state of emergency has been declared in north California where a rapidly-spreading wildfires has destroyed hundreds of homes.
The so-called Valley Fire, now ranking as the most destructive among scores of blazes that have raged across the drought-stricken Western United States this summer, came amid what California fire officials described as "unheard of fire behavior" this season.
The Valley Fire has consumed more than 50,000 acres since erupting Saturday afternoon in rural Lake County, California, about 50 miles west of Sacramento, fire officials said on Sunday.
Four firefighters have been injured in the blaze, and thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes.
Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said a combination of prolonged drought and a heatwave baking the region in triple-digit temperatures last week had left vegetation tinder dry and highly combustible.
