Evacuations widened as Northern California wildfires spread to 170,000 acres with at least 23 dead

Dennis DeVilbiss had made up his mind.

“I’m not leaving,” the former cop and firefighter said Wednesday afternoon as he stood on his front porch in Calistoga, a wine country town under threat from an approaching wildfire. Authorities had ordered its 5,000 residents to evacuate.

He glanced at smoke...