Punishing Winds That Whipped California Fires Could Last

GEYSERVILLE, Calif. (AP) – Punishing Santa Ana winds that pushed fires into Los Angeles-area neighborhoods, burning six homes, are expected to last through Friday.  The wind-whipped blazes broke out Thursday in the Santa Clarita area. One remains uncontained. As many as 50,000 people are under evacuation orders.  In Northern California, a fire near the wine country town of Geyserville has burned 49 buildings.  Pacific Gas & Electric had cut power to hundreds of thousands of people in the region as a fire safety measure but said it had not de-energized a transmission line that had a problem about the time the fire started.  However, authorities have not determined causes of any of the fires.  Most of those power outages ended late Thursday but PG&E warned they might resume Saturday when fierce winds are expected to return and boost fire danger.