US Wildfires: Thousands flee dozens of fires in California wine country

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Firefighters in California are struggling to gain ground on more than a-dozen wildfires in the famed wine-producing region. At least 10 people have died in the fires, and the flames have destroyed more than 15-hundred homes and buildings. Jennifer Bjorklund has this report.

Huge firestorms in California wine country. Hospitals evacuated overnight safe spaces, invaded by flames and burning embers falling from the sky. Kaiser and Sutter hospitals in the city of Santa Rosa look for new makeshift accommodations to care for their patients as sparks flying on erratic winds ignite neighborhood after neighborhood.

KEN SEAMORE EVACUEE "We in our neighborhood new we had to get out of there. No one had to tell us."

Emergency declarations for three counties came from California governor jerry brown, before fire lines were even mapped as flames exploded through neighborhoods overnight. Residents rushed to get out.

JOSEPH WAND EVACUEE "It's a firestorm and I was fighting with a garden houses."

More than a dozen fires are burning -- Tens of thousands of acres, and any numbers on evacuations and structures burned are guesses, growing as fast as the fires are moving.

CHIEF BARRY BIERMANN NAPA COUNTY FIRE DEPT "Right now with these conditions we can't get head of this fire and do anything about the forward progress."

Aerial views giving us the best overall picture of how these fires are burning, as crews on the ground and in the air scramble to chase them. They follow red flag warnings over the weekend across the region as low humidity and high winds made for prime conditions.

SHERIFF JOHN ROBINSON NAPA COUNTY "Most of the people are leaving their homes. This is a big event."

Winds are expected to die down soon, but not soon enough for these homes left gutted. Lives of those who once lived here left changed forever.