Homes evacuated as winds fan California fires

The latest threats came amid California's worst wildfire season on record in terms of landscape burned, with more than 4 million acres (1.6 million hectares) scorched since the start of the year, along with thousands of homes destroyed and 31 lives lost.

Red flag warnings for incendiary weather conditions remained posted across much of California due to extreme winds likely to produce gusts of up to 70 miles and 80 miles per hour (113 kph,129 kph), according to the California Department of Forestry and

Fire Protection (CalFire). Illustrating the fire threat posed by Southern California's latest bout of dry, forceful Santa Ana gusts blowing out of the a desert, a wind-driven blaze dubbed the Silverado fire erupted early Monday, and quickly spread across 2,000

acres (809 hectares) of Orange County by midday.

Some 60,000 people were ordered evacuated from surrounding homes in the vicinity of Irvine, as the Silverado raged largely unchecked through canyons in the foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains. No casualties or property losses were immediately

reported.