Northern California wildfires threatening thousands of homes

The pilot, whose name has not been released, was working with Guardian Helicopters, based in Fillmore, which had a contract with the state fire agency, Cal Fire, to provide emergency services on a call-when-needed basis, said Zoe Keliher, an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board.Hundreds of fires have erupted since the start of the week as a heat wave accompanied by humid air created a dangerous mix of triple-digit temperatures and thunderstorms that flashed lightning.California had recorded nearly 11,000 strikes in 72 hours, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday.Two fires in Solano County prompted evacuation orders for 8,000 residents near the Russian River Wednesday and residents of Healdsburg, which has a population of about 12,000, were warned late Wednesday night to be ready to flee.Ash and smoke filled the air in San Francisco from at least seven fires — known as the LNU Lightning Complex — that had burned more than 100 buildings, including some homes, and threatened 25,000 others in Napa, Sonoma, Lake, Yolo and Solano counties. Four people had been injured, Cal Fire reported, but didn’t supply details except to say they weren’t firefighters.Travis Air Force Base ordered non-mission essential personnel to evacuate, officials said.Residents in nearby Vacaville, a city of about 100,000 located between San Francisco and Sacramento, were roused before dawn Wednesday by orders to flee.Police and firefighters went door-to-door in a frantic scramble to warn residents to evacuate as flames encroached.Karen Hansen had fled late Tuesday as flames approached her small farm.