Paradise lost: Raging rapid wildfire reduces California city to ashes as inferno sparks evacuation of 27,000 residents burning down a hospital, a gas station, hundreds of homes and leaving 'multiple people dead'. CLICK HERE FOR MORE
Tens of thousands of people fled a fast-moving wildfire Thursday in Northern California, some clutching babies and pets as they abandoned vehicles and struck out on foot ahead of the flames that forced the evacuation of an entire town and destroyed hundreds of structures. The town of Paradise, 180 miles north of San Francisco has all but been wiped off the map. A state of emergency in Northern California has been declared because of the dangerous wildfire that has destroyed hundreds of homes, bottom left and right, and forced thousands to flee. At least 27,000 people in the town were ordered to leave. The National Weather Service say low humidity and strong winds were expected to continue through Friday evening. Firefighters appeared to be facing a losing battle from the start seemingly unable to compete with the dry conditions and the Santa Ana winds. The fire ran through fields, woodland and across major highways, top. Dozens of patients had to be evacuated, inset middle right, from a local hospital as the building was slowly consumed by flames.