Wildfires race through dry, windy California

Over the last month, California wildfires have chased thousands of families from their homes, destroyed more than 3,600 buildings, blackened huge expanses of land and killed 12 people.

In all, more than two dozen major fires are burning around the state, some of them among the largest in recent California history.

Feeding off strong winds and dry brush, the fast-growing blazes have chewed through old-growth redwoods and chaparral and forced evacuations in wine country north of San Francisco and along the Sierra Nevada mountain range.

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Flames lick above vehicles on Highway 162 as the Bear Fire burns in Oroville, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Photos from The Associated Press show the flames exploding from trees and bushes, reaching out to lick vehicles, firefighters and homes. Drifting smoke chokes much of the state and fills the sky with an eerie orange glow.

In parts of the San Francisco Bay Area and the Sacramento Valley, the smoke blocked out so much sunlight that the temperature dropped by 20 to 30 degrees Wednesday over the previous day, according to the National Weather Service.

Wildfires are also burning in Oregon and Washington state.

Jeremy Hedrick holds his son Jeep as smoke from the Creek Fire fills the air in a marina, were campers were being held due to impassable roads, caused by the fire Monday, Sept. 7, 2020, in Shaver Lake, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Wildfire smoke darkens the sky over a statue of former San Francisco Giants pitcher Juan Marichal outside Oracle Park before a baseball game between the Giants and the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)

An air tanker drops retardant at a wildfire burns at a hillside in Yucaipa, Calif., Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)

Smoke from the Creek Fire billows beyond a ridge as seen from Huntington Lake on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020, at Huntington Lake, Calif. (Eric Paul Zamora/The Fresno Bee via AP)

A helicopter prepares to drop water at a wildfire in Yucaipa, Calif., Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)

A firefighter battles the Creek Fire as it threatens homes in the Cascadel Woods neighborhood of Madera County, Calif., on Monday, Sept. 7, 2020. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Smoke from the Creek Fire fills the air over a boating dock, Sunday, Sept. 6, 2020, in Shaver Lake, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

A family from Ventura County watches, from the shore of Shaver Lake, the billowing smoke from the Creek Fire, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020, northeast of Fresno, Calif. (Eric Paul Zamora/The Fresno Bee via AP)

A firefighter battles the Creek Fire as it threatens homes in the Cascadel Woods neighborhood of Madera County, Calif., on Monday, Sept. 7, 2020. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

In this photo provided by Frederic Larson, the Golden Gate Bridge is seen at 11 a.m. PT, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020, in San Francisco, amid a smoky, orange hue caused by the ongoing wildfires. (Frederic Larson via AP)

The Creek Fire burns along a hillside in the Cascadel Woods community of Madera County, Calif., on Monday, Sept. 7, 2020. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Kelsey Mueller, 16, of Armona, Calif., pets her dogs while waiting with her family to be escorted from the mountain as the Creek Fire burns nearby Monday, Sept. 7, 2020, in Shaver Lake, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

In this image taken with a slow shutter speed, embers light up a hillside behind the Bidwell Bar Bridge as the Bear Fire burns in Oroville, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020. The blaze, part of the lightning-sparked North Complex, expanded at a critical rate of spread as winds buffeted the region. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Smoke from California wildfires colors the air above Oracle Park as the San Francisco Giants play the Seattle Mariners during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)

Flames shoot from a home as the Bear Fire burns through the Berry Creek area of Butte County, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020. The blaze, part of the lightning-sparked North Complex, expanded at a critical rate of spread as winds buffeted the region. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

A firefighter battles the Creek Fire in the Shaver Lake community of Fresno County, Calif., on Monday, Sept. 7, 2020. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Jason Anderson, 42, takes pictures as the sun is visible through thick smoke generated by the Bobcat Fire in San Dimas, Calif., Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020. Hazy clouds of smoke from dozens of wildfires darkened the sky to an eerie orange glow over much of the West Coast on Wednesday, keeping street lights illuminated during the day and putting residents on edge. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A scorched car rests in a clearing following the Bear Fire in Butte County, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020. The blaze, part of the lightning-sparked North Complex, expanded at a critical rate of spread as winds buffeted the region. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Under darkened skies from wildfire smoke, a man crosses Hyde Street with Alcatraz Island and Fisherman's Wharf in the background Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020, in San Francisco. The picture was taken in the middle of the day at 12:29 p.m. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Under darkened skies from wildfire smoke, a jogger makes his way along McCovey Cove outside Oracle Park on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)

Under darkened skies from wildfire smoke, people sit by heat lamps and eat lunch at a Fisherman's Wharf restaurant Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020, in San Francisco. The picture was taken in the middle of the day at 12:46 p.m. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Members of the Laguna Hotshots, out of the Cleveland National Forest, walk on a road while fighting the Creek Fire, Sunday, Sept. 6, 2020, in Big Creek, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

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Text from AP News story, AP PHOTOS: Wildfires race through dry, windy California.

  

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