Winds Fan Wildfires

VACAVILLE, Calif. — Eight horses were killed and more than half a dozen homes burned Friday as winds fanned several wildfires in Northern California.

In Vacaville, 32 miles southwest of Sacramento, a 30-acre grass fire destroyed a farmhouse and several barns, killing eight horses.

And a blaze in nearby Davis jumped a highway and burned two homes. Three people were injured.

A wildfire in Calaveras County near Burson spread to 1,500 acres in a few hours, destroying four houses and numerous other buildings and forcing evacuations.

Another blaze, near Anderson Springs in Sonoma County, burned 75 acres before the wind died down and firefighters were able to start bringing it under control.

Most of the state was under an extreme fire warning as low humidity, strong winds and dry tinder raised the threat.

State fire officials warned campers about fire safety, and campfires were banned at some national forests and in Bureau of Land Management areas.

The causes of the blazes were not immediately known.

In Davis, a grass fire that started just before 11 a.m. jumped Highway 113 near the University of California campus, closing the freeway for several hours. Winds to 30 mph pushed the blaze toward a neighborhood of single-family homes, where it burned backyard fences, charred eucalyptus trees and damaged two houses, said Jack Hickey, operations chief with the Davis Fire Department.

Sacramento defense attorney Charles Bonneau saw firefighters hacking at the roof of his six-bedroom home with axes and a chain saw.

“I think this is what they call a total loss,” said Bonneau, who raised seven sons in the house. “There’s a lot of memories here, but we’ll rebuild it.”

The downstairs of the house was just remodeled, a gift from his stepson, San Diego Chargers nose guard Jason Fisk.