Officials also ordered an evacuation of Geyserville, home to about 900 people and a popular stop for wine country tourists, along with nearby residences. The blaze threatened some of the area's famed wineries and had burned 49 buildings, the ABC 7 news channel reported.

More than 500 firefighters were battling the blaze in Sonoma County, but their overnight efforts could only focus on evacuations and the high winds made the fire difficult to contain.

"Our aircraft can't drop in those conditions. When you have that kind of wind speed, the resistance to control is beyond our capabilities. Because of the terrain and fuel conditions and the heat and humidity, the containment is still very challenging," Mark Parks with Cal Fire told local KCRA news channel.

Reports day that the Kincade fire started Wednesday night near the Geysers Geothermal Plant, the world's largest geothermal field where nearly two dozen power plants draw steam from more than 350 mountain wells to create electricity.

While the cause of the Kincade fire had not been determined, the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) reported a problem with a transmission tower near the spot where the fire ignited and at time just minutes later after the fire started.

PG&E, a publicly-traded, investor-owned utility that services two-thirds of northern California, announced Wednesday that it would cut off electricity to almost 180,000 California customers from that day's noon through Thursday as a precaution to possible breakout of wildfires.

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