【Dear Utol (2025): Itch Follows Episode 23】

The Dear Utol (2025): Itch Follows Episode 23fires moved faster than many people could escape. Sweeping across the hills and valleys of California's wine country, and eventually extending up and down the state, at least 14 large fires advanced with deadly speed amid powerful "Diablo" and "Santa Ana" offshore winds.

The fires in northern California proved especially deadly, with the death toll standing at 10 as of Monday at 9 p.m. ET, but it's expected to rise. Seven of these fatalities were in Sonoma County alone.

The city of Santa Rosa, population 175,000, was especially hard hit by the Tubbs Fire. The blaze burned hundreds of structures to the ground, from a Hilton hotel to a high school, as well as row after row of homes.

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"It has been a horrific and terrifying night for a great many people," said Santa Rosa Police Department, acting chief Craig Schwartz.  

While the proximate causes of the blazes are unknown, once ignited, the fire weather conditions were all it took to spread the flames at deadly speeds. In Sonoma County, the offshore winds exceeded hurricane force, gusting as high as 79 miles per hour, overnight Sunday. Gusts to 55 miles per hour were common across the San Francisco Bay Area on Sunday night and Monday.

These winds, known as Diablo winds in Northern California, result from the air circulation around an area of high pressure parked over inland areas. This weather feature causes air to sink, compressing down mountainsides and accelerating through canyons. In the process, the air temperature rises and moisture content drops.

The images from these fires are apocalyptic and heart-wrenching.

A truck burns as fire ravages the Napa wine region in California on October 9, 2017. Credit: JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images

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Wind-blown embers fly from a tree near a burnt-out house in Napa, California on October 9, 2017. Credit: JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images A helicopter drops water near homes in the Anaheim Hills neighborhood in Anaheim, California on October 9, 2017. Credit: AFP/Getty Images A firefighter walks near a pool as a neighboring home burns in the Napa wine region in California on October 9, 2017. Credit: JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images

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A law enforcement officer blocks a road as flames from a wildfire burn in a residential area in Santa Rosa, California on October 9, 2017 Credit: AP/REX/Shutterstock Flames rise from the remains of a burnt-down commercial building in Santa Rosa, California  on October 9, 2017 Credit: AP/REX/Shutterstock Flames ravage a home in the Napa wine region in California on October 9, 2017. Credit: JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images Two women hug as they watch houses burn in Santa Rosa, California on October 9, 2017 Credit: AP/REX/Shutterstock Flames from a massive wildfire burn, in Napa, California  on October 9, 2017. Credit: AP/REX/Shutterstock A police car blocks the 241 freeway as smoke from the Canyon 2 Fire covers the freeway near Orange, California, on October 9, 2017. Credit: AFP/Getty Images Fire glows on a hillside in Napa, California on October 9, 2017, as multiple wind-driven fires continue to whip through the region. Credit: JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images