Thousands flee California wildfires

Raging wildfires across southern California have forced thousands of people to abandon their homes.

In San Diego county, authorities are increasingly concerned as the wildfires come in the midst of one of the state’s worst droughts on record.

As temperatures soared, nine fires had burned more than 9,000 acres in the county by late Wednesday.

Another blaze, called Tomahawk, broke out on the Camp Pendleton Marine Base north of San Diego and charred roughly 6,000 acres, prompting the evacuation of military housing and a naval weapons station.

Nearly 2,500 homes are without power and California Governor Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency to free up resources to help aid local firefighting efforts.