HELL IN PARADISE
Kim Kardashian forced to flee California wildfires as blaze becomes deadly and thousands evacuate
Strong winds and dry conditions drove the blaze toward several small towns on Thursday
KIM Kardashian was among thousands of residents forced to flee wildfires in California, as authorities confirmed people have died in the blaze.
Tens of thousands of people were forced to evacuate as strong winds and dry conditions drove the blaze toward small towns on Thursday.
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Sheriff Kory Honea said: "We have received reports of some fatalities."
The blaze dubbed the Camp Fire began early on Thursday in the town of Paradise and quickly charred 8,000 acres.
More than 27,000 residents were evacuated, about 150 miles northeast of San Francisco.
Kim posted Instagram videos from her plane as fires raged below and posted: "Just landed back home and had 1 hour to pack up and evacuate our home."
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The reality star has a home in Calabasas' Bell Canyon area.
She added the caption "Pray for Calabasas" and thanked firefighters.
The regions has been scarred by apocalyptic fires this year.
Trailer park resident, Shary Bernacett, said her husband desperately knocked on doors to try and get neighbours to safety.
She said: "The whole hill’s on fire. God help us!"
Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said: "We're trying to get as many people out as quickly as possible and save as many lives as we can."
He added: "Its bad."
Rick Carhart, a fire service spokesman, said: "The blaze is being driven by fairly strong winds.
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"It’s really dry and we have low humidity and unfortunately those are great conditions for a fire to spread."
Images posted on Twitter showed thick, grey smoke choking the sky above Paradise.
"The whole town is burning," Bob Van Camp, a resident who escaped on his motorbike, told local TV.
"We had to ride through flames to get here."
With limited escape routes from the town, which is built on a ridge, traffic accidents turned roads into gridlock, with residents forced to abandon vehicles and run from the flames carrying children and pets, officials said.
One woman stuck in traffic went into labour, the reported.
"Multiple vehicles and structures being lost, fire fighters are attempting to make a stand but fire behaviour is extreme," tweeted Bernie Deyo.
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Deyo said one of the main buildings at Feather River Hospital in Paradise was on fire, with 30-40 patients in the hospital still waiting to be evacuated.
Fire authorities did not indicate how the blaze started.
The fire has cut off power to roughly 34,000 customers in Butte and Plumas counties, according to a spokesman for Pacific Gas & Electric.
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