California wildfire crisis escalates as extreme winds fan flames

California's wildfire crisis escalated on Tuesday as strong winds fanned the Dixie Fire, driving flames across the state.

A separate, smaller blaze was also driven into a rural mountain community, prompting widespread precautionary power blackouts.

Homes, an elementary school and a post office in El Dorado County were reduced to ash as the fire scorched land, leading to the evacuation of thousands of people.

California Governor Gavin Newsom believes "record-breaking triple-digit temperatures" and the "realities of climate change" are behind the devastating blazes, which continue to burn.