10 dead after wildfires sweep into California wine country.

California wine country struggled dozen wildfires  whipped by powerful winds which destroyed at least 1,500 homes and businesses and sent an estimated 20,000 people on a headlong flight to safety through smoke and flames.

The state's fire chief called the damage estimates conservative and said the fires were burning throughout an eight-county swath of Northern California, including Napa, Sonoma and Yuba counties.

Numerous people had been hurt and some were missing, although no estimates were immediately available, said California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection director Ken Pimlott.

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