said. "We can't even get into most areas."

'It'll go up like a candle'

Smoke from the wildfires has also affected flights at multiple airports in the region.

More than 80 flights were cancelled by late Thursday morning at San Francisco International Airport, said airport spokesman Doug Yakel. Other flights taking off had been delayed an average 30 to 45 minutes, he said.

The Federal Aviation Administration said some arriving flights were delayed more than three hours.

Napa County Sheriff deputies escort people across a barricade to be driven by police officers to pick up important medications or feed animals at their homes effected by the so-called Atlas Fire in Napa, Calif. on Thursday. (David McNew/Getty Images)

Several flights were also cancelled at Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa, a particular hotspot.

Entirecities had been evacuated in anticipation of the next wave of fires, their streets empty, the only motion coming from ashes falling like snowflakes.

They included Calistoga, the historic resort town of wine tastings and hot springs, whose 5,300 people are all under evacuation orders. Tens of thousands more were also driven from their homes by the flames. A few left behind cookies for firefighters and signs that read, "Please save our home!"

'They won't tell us nothing'

Residents in the community of Boyes Hot Springs in Sonoma County were told to clear out Wednesday, and the streets were quickly lined with cars packed with fleeing people.

"That's very bad," resident Nick Hinman said when a deputy sheriff warned him that the driving winds could shift the wildfires toward the town of