Glass Fire scorches California wine country

Residents of an assisted living home in Santa Rosa, Calif., boarded buses to escape a nearby wildfire that broke out Sunday. Evacuation warnings affected more than 50,000 people by Monday as the Glass Fire merged with two other blazes in Northern California, burning 17 square miles, according to Cal Fire.

How much damage could the fires cause? They threaten more than 13,000 homes in Santa Rosa alone, Cal Fire spokesman Paul Lowenthal said. Pacific Gas & Electric cut power to areas with wind damage over the weekend. So far this year, the state has weathered more than 8,000 fires that have burned 5,780 square miles, destroyed 7,000 buildings, and killed 26 people.

Dig deeper: Read Julie Borg’s report in Beginnings about the debate over why the fires have been so bad this year.