Rural California Wine Country Fire Burning Out of Control (1)

Firefighters battled intense heat and dry weather Friday as they worked to control a fast-moving blaze in the heart of California’s wine country.

The Pickett Fire exploded in the hills above the tourist town of Calistoga in the Napa Valley Thursday afternoon, triggering evacuations from nearby wineries and a handful of rural neighborhoods. What started as a small brush fire has now consumed 3,235 acres (1309 hectares), according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. That’s about 147 times the size of the San Francisco 49ers football stadium.

The fire is burning out of control in dry terrain ...