Embers fly from a tree as the Kincade Fire burns near Geyserville, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019. Portions of Northern California remain in the dark after Pacific Gas & Electric Co. cut power to prevent wildfires from sparking during dry and windy conditions. (AP Photo/Noah Berger) 
Susi Weaver, the manger for the Hawkeye Ranch in the Mayacamas Mountains above Geyserville, Calif., sprays down the dry brush as the the Kincade fire delivers firebrands across the property, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019. (Kent Porter/The Press Democrat via AP) 
Embers fly across a roadway as the Kincade Fire burns through the Jimtown community of Sonoma County, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Noah Berger) 
Flames consume a home as the Kincade Fire tears through the Jimtown community of Sonoma County, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Noah Berger) 
A firefighter sprays water on a burning home as the Kincade Fire burns through the Jimtown community of unincorporated Sonoma County, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Noah Berger) 
Vines surround a burning building as the Kincade Fire burns through the Jimtown community of unincorporated Sonoma County, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Noah Berger) 
Brian Boyd checks one of the generators used to provide power at the Clear Creek Crossing store near Paradise, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019. The Pacific Gas & Electric Co. cut power to 17 counties in Northern California to help prevent wildfires caused by downed power lines. Boyd said generators were brought to the store to provide power to the refrigerators and to provide some service to area residents. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) 
Mike Wolf uses a flashlight to straighten merchandise at the Ace Hardware Store in Paradise, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019. The Pacific Gas & Electric Co. cut power to 17 counties in Northern California to help prevent wildfires caused by downed power lines. Generators were used to provide some power to the store that stayed open during the power outage. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) 
A helicopter passes a smoke plume as the Kincade Fire burns in unincorporated Sonoma County, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Noah Berger) 
A wildfire approaches a residential subdivision Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019, in Santa Clarita, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) 
A resident evacuates with his dogs as a wildfire approaches Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019, in Santa Clarita, Calif. The flames are fed by dry winds that are predicted to strengthen throughout the day across the region. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) 
Firefighters make a stand as a wildfire approaches the backyard of a home Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019, in Santa Clarita, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) 
Patricia Dennison uses a hose to try to stop an advancing wildfire from affecting her business, Dennison Automotive, along Sierra Highway Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019, in Santa Clarita, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) 
Brandon Mani covers his face from the smoke created by a wildfire as he walks along Highway 14 Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019, in Santa Clarita, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) 
Firefighters from Holton Fire Camp 16 work to contain the Tick Fire behind a residential home in Santa Clarita, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Christian Monterrosa) 
Flames burn close to an entrance of a home during the Tick Fire in Santa Clarita, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019. The flames are fed by dry winds that are predicted to strengthen across the region. (AP Photo/Christian Monterrosa) 
A structure firefighter works on the roof of a building during the Tick Fire in Santa Clarita, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Christian Monterrosa) 
Firefighters open the door of a classroom that was impacted from flames on the roof during the Tick Fire in Santa Clarita, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Christian Monterrosa) 
Firefighters pack up after extinguishing a house on fire during the Tick Fire in Santa Clarita, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Christian Monterrosa) 
A vehicle lays destroyed from the flames of the Tick Fire while a SoCal Gas worker assesses the damage of a nearby home in Santa Clarita, Calif. on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/ Christian Monterrosa) 
A firefighter hoses down a house on fire during the Tick Fire in Santa Clarita, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Christian Monterrosa) 
A burnt house lays flooded as leftover flames from the Tick fire continue to burn in the Santa Clarita, Calif. on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019 (AP Photo/ Christian Monterrosa) 
Firefighters rush to protect a home as the flames of the Tick Fire approach behind it Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019, in Santa Clarita, Calif. Fast-growing fires across California have forced thousands of people to evacuate as dry winds and high heat feed the flames. (AP Photo/ Christian Monterrosa) 
A firefighter prepares to fight a wildfire as it overtakes a home Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019, in Santa Clarita, Calif. The flames are fed by dry winds that are predicted to strengthen across the region. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) 
Firefighters try to douse flames on a wildfire ravaged a home Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019, in Santa Clarita, Calif. The flames are fed by dry winds that are predicted to strengthen across the region. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) 
Firefighters work to douse flames on a wildfire ravaged home Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019, in Santa Clarita, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) 
A home goes up in flames in a wildfire zone Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019, in Santa Clarita, Calif. Fast-growing fires across California have forced thousands of people to evacuate as dry winds and high heat feed the flames. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) 
A firefighter works the scene of a wildfire-ravaged home Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019, in Santa Clarita, Calif. Fast-growing fires across California have forced thousands of people to evacuate as dry winds and high heat feed the flames. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
LOS ANGELES | Punishing Santa Ana winds that pushed fires into Los Angeles-area neighborhoods, burning six homes, were expected to last through Friday and could prompt more power shutoffs to hundreds of thousands of people.
The wind-whipped blazes broke out Thursday in the Santa Clarita area and the largest remained uncontained. As many as 50,000 people were under evacuation orders.
In Northern California, a fire near the wine country town of Geyserville burned 49 buildings.
The threat of hot, dry, winds driving flames far and wide was met with fleets of aircraft and hundreds of firefighters on the ground, who tried to protect homes where backyards were surrounded by trees and brush.
In some places, they failed.
As hot embers flew, subdivision homes and rural ranch properties were damaged or destroyed in the Canyon Country area of Santa Clarita and in nearby Castaic.
“We know of at least six but that number may rise,” Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said.
Alejandro Corrales tearfully watched her home burn on a ridge in Canyon Country, taking with it her mother’s ashes, other belongings and possibly a pen full of pet sheep.
“You start thinking about all the things you can’t get back,” she told KCBS-TV.
Her daughter managed to take some small pets.
“Everything in the house is gone,” Corrales said. “The panels on one of the pens where we have some rescued sheep was too hot for my daughter to open and so she couldn’t let them out … so I’m probably sure that we lost them, too.”
Her three children were safe.
“I’m just a little overwhelmed and I’m literally seeing sticks and fire of what used to be our home,” she said.
Some residents tried to fight the blaze with garden hoses.
In the rural areas, where at least two ranch houses burned, people rushed to rescue dozens of horses, donkeys, goats, a pig and even an emu.
No injuries were reported but fire officials say a firefighting helicopter was struck by a bird and its windshield damage, forcing it out of the fight until Friday.
Southern California Edison, which cut power to more than 31,000 customers on Thursday, was considering additional power cuts to more than 386,000 customers.
The shutdowns were designed to prevent fierce winds from hurling branches into power lines or toppling them, sparking wildfires.
By nightfall, crews reported they had slowed the forward progress of the flames but the winds, accompanied by hot weather and bone-dry humidity, were expected to pick up overnight and possibly increase into Friday, with gusts of 45 to 60 mph (72 to 97 kmph) in places, before easing off.
Unfortunately, they were forecast to increase again over the weekend in Northern California, where a fire in wine country that began Wednesday night had burned 49 buildings and prompted evacuation orders for some 2,000 people in the Geyserville area.
Among those fleeing was 81-year-old Harry Bosworth, who awoke before sunrise Thursday to find a firetruck and firefighters in his driveway. As he and his wife drove off, flames surrounded their driveway and their barn caught fire.
“I could see the fire coming, so we got the heck out of there,” Bosworth said after escaping to his daughter’s house in the neighboring town of Healdsburg.
The blaze in Sonoma County had burned 25 square miles (65 square kilometers), whipped up by the strong winds that had prompted Pacific Gas & Electric to impose sweeping blackouts in northern and central California.
The outages affected half a million people or nearly 180,000 customers in 18 counties, most of whom lost power Wednesday afternoon and had it restored by Thursday evening, PG&E official Keith Stephens said.
The blackouts were instituted after utility electrical equipment was blamed for setting several blazes in recent years that killed scores of people and burned thousands of homes.
PG&E said Thursday it didn’t deenergize a 230,000-volt transmission line near Geyserville that it said malfunctioned minutes before the fire erupted.
The company filed a report with the state utilities commission saying it found a “broken jumper” wire on a transmission tower around 9:20 p.m. Wednesday.
PG&E CEO Bill Johnson said it was too soon to know if the faulty equipment started the fire. He said the tower had been inspected four times in the past two years and appeared to have been in “excellent condition.”
Meanwhile, PG&E warned that an even larger power outage may occur as early as Saturday and could affect portions of 33 counties in the San Francisco Bay Area, wine country and Sierra foothills.
Forecasts for Saturday into Monday showed possible wind gusts of 40 to 60 mph in most elevated areas of Northern California, and as high as 75 mph on some peaks.
“We do think that it will be the strongest offshore wind event of the season by a large margin, and if models are correct, possibly the strongest offshore winds we’ve seen in years,” PG&E chief meteorologist Scott Strenfel said.
___
Gecker reported from San Francisco. Associated Press writers Janie Har and Juliet Williams in San Francisco and John Antczak and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.