More Wildfire Evacuations Ordered As Northern California Braces For Powerful Winds

More evacuations were ordered Thursday in Northern California as wildfire-weary residents braced for a return of powerful winds that could stoke a blaze burning in the region’s wine country.

The evacuations in the Napa Valley came as forecasters issued a red flag warning, the highest alert for wildfire danger, across large swaths of Northern, Central and Southern California.

The alert went into effect on Thursday afternoon and is expected to remain in place through Friday.

Twenty-four thousand buildings in Napa and Sonoma counties, north of San Francisco, remained threatened by the Glass Fire, which ignited overnight Sunday in the Napa Valley and burned through nearly 57,000 acres as of Thursday afternoon, Cal Fire spokesman Jonathan Cox told reporters.

Nearly 150 buildings have been destroyed and dozens more have been damaged, though Cox said that number is likely to change as investigators continue surveying the area.