San francisco to san jose

Updated | Wildfires continue to rip across Southern California with tens of thousands of San Diegans evacuating their communities early Friday morning.

The flames spread to San Diego County on Thursday night from a blaze called the Lilac fire. Within hours, the fire scorched more than 6 square miles in the Bonsall area, well known for its thoroughbred training. Owners risked their lives to save hundreds of horses amid evacuation orders that spread as the fire eluded all containment. The trainers eventually allowed panicked animals to run free, and at least 25 horses were reported dead.

In San Diego, approximately 600 people checked into evacuation centers as homes and buildings were destroyed by the flames. There were 11 schools closed and a portion of Route 76 shut down as the fire spread. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti declared an emergency in response to quickly moving fire as winds along the coast continue to make the fires challenging to contain. There were six active fires in California as of Friday afternoon.

“We are in no way near the end of this,” said Ron Lane, the San Diego County officer who oversees public safety, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune .

At least three residents were hurt in the evacuation, but Garcetti said no deaths have been reported.

The surge of wildfires started Monday evening with the Thomas fire before four other fires sparked Tuesday afternoon. By Wednesday, smoke carried through the San Fernando Valley, and Thursday brought an outbreak of flames in Los Angeles County that was fueled by hurricane-level winds. Evacuations for the San Diego fires began Thursday evening and carried into Friday.

The Weather Channel said Friday the damage has made the Lilac wildfire ” a significant fire ” when compared to the others sweeping Southern California. Extreme winds are helping the fire move quickly and knocking down power lines and trees as the original fires spread. The Thomas fire, which originated the series of wildfires across California, spanned 180 miles as of Friday—an area of land the size of Denver.

The ongoing December fires in California are still small when compared with the October fires that burned more than 128,000 acres in Napa Valley—about eight times the size of Manhattan—and killed 31 people.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified the name of The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Updated | The mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, says Republican officials are so “afraid” to discuss its “deplorable” response to Hurricane Maria that they hastily canceled a congressional hearing featuring her and the Federal Emergency Management Agency after she had flown all the way to Washington on Tuesday.

Carmen Yulín Cruz had traveled to D.C. for a congressional hearing and was expecting to meet with FEMA Administrator Brock Long to discuss the agency response to the September 20 hurricane, which to this day has left 75 percent of the island without power—only to discover the hearing had been scrubbed by the GOP-led House Homeland Security Committee. No reason was given and the hearing was not rescheduled.

“It was deplorable how FEMA acted against the Puerto Rican people,” said Cruz. “What are they afraid of? The truth has to be told, and people all over the world have seen how the Trump administration has treated Puerto Rico.”

House Democrats were also incensed.

“Its (sic) inexcusable the GOP have canceled this hearing no rational reason to silence the Mayor & shield @WhiteHouse from another bad news story,” Democrats on the panel posted on Twitter .

It is unclear why Congress canceled the hearing. Earlier this month, Long said Cruz’s complaints about FEMA’s recovery effort amount to just “political noise.”

“We filtered out the mayor a long time ago,” Long told ABC News. “We don’t have time for the political noise.”

But other groups are listening to Cruz. The United Nation’s top human rights panel said on Monday that the U.S territory’s 3.4 million residents are being treated unfairly by their own American government.

“We can’t fail to note the dissimilar urgency and priority given to the emergency response in Puerto Rico compared to the U.S. states affected by hurricanes in recent months,” said Leilani Farha, the U.N.’s special rapporteur on adequate housing.

“All reconstruction efforts should be guided by international human rights standards, ensuring that people can rebuild where they have lived and close to their communities,” the full panel’s statement added. “Reconstruction should aim to increase the resilience of Puerto Rico’s infrastructure, housing and hospitals against future natural disasters.”

More than a month after the storm, roughly three-quarters of the island remains without power, the longest blackout in U.S. history, according to the Rhodium Group .

Help is not immediately on the way. Earlier this week, the island moved to terminate a contract with Whitefish Energy , a small Montana firm that won a $300-million no-bid contract to restore power. The firm is linked to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.

Correction: An earlier version of this story reported that FEMA had canceled a meeting with San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, but subsequent reporting revealed that a House committee had canceled its hurricane hearing with Cruz and FEMA Administrator Brock Long.