Hundreds of people are fleeing their homes as more than a dozen large wildfires burned across drought-stricken Northern California on Saturday. Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency Friday.
About 8,000 firefighters are working to contain the fires, many caused by lightning strikes, according to the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Most of the fires are at least 60 percent contained, but they have damaged tens of thousands of acres so far, CNN reports. One firefighter died Thursday battling the blazes.
The four-year drought has "turned much of the state into a tinderbox," Brown said.
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