As acrid smoke from more than 18,000 acres of charred brush curled skyward today, California officials feared the earlier-than-usual start of the summer wildfires season could make it the most dangerous ever.

Southern California’s first wildfires of the season burned homes and brushlands and forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes.

Arsonists are to blame for at least three of the raging fires in southern California that have so far claimed the lives of 20 people and destroyed more than 2,600 homes, authorities said.

Tens of thousands of people fled mountain communities in southern California as frantic residents raced to avoid the state’s deadliest wildfires in more than a decade.

A train carrying non-hazardous chemicals is partially suspended over a steep cliff after derailing in northeastern California.