Recovery

PG&E said Tuesday that 'hurricane strength winds in excess of 75 mph in some cases' had damaged their equipment, but they said it was too early to speculate what started the fires.

Altogether, the fires have burned more than 180,000 acres and caused at least 31 deaths. Officials expect the death toll to rise as search efforts begin in earnest.

The destruction of more than 3,500 homes and businesses and death toll combined put the fires among the most catastrophic in the state’s history.

Last month, Congress approved an initial $15 billion package for Texas, Florida and other areas hit by an unusually destructive hurricane season.

Beneath choking smoke-filled skies that made the morning sun appear deep orange, upscale neighborhoods on the northern edges of Santa Rosa were in ashes, along with gas stations, big box stores and vineyards.

Three weeks after Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico, the scope of the damage is still shocking. Just 10 percent of the island has power, although that number fluctuates, and only a third of cellphone towers are operating.

It’s unclear how much that decision might have affected area residents’ responses to the deadly wildfires, particularly since many cell phone towers were destroyed in the blaze, making such messages undeliverable.

Thousands of firefighters battled through another tense night on the fire lines across Northern California, officials said early Thursday.

There has been minimal containment of the fast-growing wildfires in California’s Wine Country, where officials are focused on saving lives and preserving property.

The search continues for more than 180 people who remain missing in Sonoma County after Sunday’s firestorm sent tens of thousands of residents fleeing for their lives.

Already, the fires have scorched more than 100,000 acres and left at least 17 people dead. Increased winds threatened to make containment of the fires even more difficult Wednesday.

Hundreds of power poles and the lines and transformers they carried have exploded like matchsticks. Gas lines have ruptured. Cellphone and internet networks have been compromised.

The dispatch calls, which began pouring out after 10:30 p.m., less than an hour after the fire was first reported, provide a harrowing narrative of the frantic, confusing efforts to rescue people from the Atlas Peak fire.

As firefighters continued to battle one of the worst firestorms in California history, federal officials vowed to help.

About 91,000 PG&E customers in the North Bay remained blacked-out Tuesday morning, down from 99,000 Monday.