California wildfires torched roughly 170,000 acres— a collective area larger than the city of Chicago — early this week. The situation is being called one of the worst firestorms in state history.

A series of fires sparked in the Napa Valley on Sunday night, and grew as powerful winds pulled the flames across fields and freeways. More than 2,000 homes, businesses, and structures have been destroyed, and an estimated 20,000 people have been evacuated. At least 21 people are dead.

The cause of the fires remained under investigation on Wednesday afternoon.

Local officials have described the hot, dry conditions leading up to the firestorm as a "recipe for disaster." Here are three key reasons that explain why the fires have been so destructive.

A weather phenomenon known as the "Diablo winds" is partially responsible for the widespread devastation.

Typically, sea breezes come off the Pacific Ocean and make landfall. In the fall, high pressure builds in the Great Basin — a huge swath of land that spans much of the western US — and causes wind to blow in an opposite direction,the Los Angeles Times reported.

Air descends from high elevations in Nevada and Utah down to sea level in Northern California, compressing and warming in the process. Winds, known as "Diablo winds," form.

In California's wine country, these especially dry winds arrived overnight on Monday, and reached speeds of over 50 miles per hour, with gusts as high as 70 miles per hour. Diablo winds probably didn't create the fires, but they did worsen the issue. Fires whipped by winds spread from ridge top to ridge top, across at least eight California counties.

"It's just about the worst case weather conditions to spread a wildfire quickly, given the fuel," UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain told the Los Angeles Times.

The state's hottest summer on record turned dry vegetation to tinder.

It's peak wildfire season in California, and October is a notoriously challenging month for firefighters. Hot, sunny summers leave soil and vegetation dry — and more likely to burn. Early this week, forests and fields turned to tinder as small fires escalated across Northern California.

The situation in wine country was not helped by years of drought and a brutal heat wave in September, which marked the finale of the state's hottest summer on record.

The fires surprised residents and local officials in the middle of the night.

Flames began to devour swaths of Northern California wine country after most people went to bed on Sunday night. It wasn't until 1:30 a.m. Monday — around the time the Tubbs fire leaped across Highway 101 — that Sonoma County officials sent text and email alerts telling people in the city of Santa Rosa to evacuate. Shortly after, entire neighborhoods were leveled.

Santa Rosa is the most populous city in Sonoma County. But those text and email alerts were only sent to residents who had registered for the notification service, called Nixle. It remains unclear how many people were contacted. Downed telephone lines and cell towers may also have interfered with outreach from local officials.

Firefighters and sheriff's deputies also knocked on doors telling people to flee.

SEE ALSO: Before-and-after photos show how California's wineries have been devastated by fires

SEE ALSO: How to help people affected by the massive fires burning California's wine country

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Meet the badass fire fighters who parachute directly into the flames

Dropbox has made a name for itself as a leader in file sharing and cloud storage.

Now it's taking the lead in a completely different area: real estate. 

The company has agreed to lease 736,000 square feet of office space in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco. The deal is the single largest office lease in the city's history.

The Exchange is a still-under-construction $570 million four-building complex that is being developed by Kilroy Realty Corporation. In addition to office space, the complex will also have 14,000 square feet of retail space which will be leased to other companies. 

Dropbox's lease will last 15 years, starting at the end of 2018. The company didn't say how much it will pay to rent the space. 

“We’re excited to partner with Kilroy to create a new home for our growing team," Drew Houston, CEO of Dropbox, said in a statement. "The Exchange is a space that will reflect our creative culture and inspire us to continue building great products for our users." 

Dropbox's current office, where it moved in April 2016, is in San Francisco's South Beach neighborhood — about a 25 minute walk from the new building.

The company's current office features a 5-foot-tall chrome panda statue in the entry way — rumored to cost around $100,000 — which came to represent a shift in the company from a buoyant darling of Silicon Valley excess to a serious business with an eye on profitability.

A representative for Dropbox declined to say whether or not the panda will move to the new office.

Take a peek at what Dropbox's new building will look like:

SEE ALSO: Tour Dropbox's luxe Austin office, which has its own gym and music room

Dropbox's new offices will be located at 16th and Owens St. in Mission Bay.

The four-building complex will include both offices and retail space.

They'll also feature courtyards, bike paths, and gardens.

The ground-level retail space is 14,000 square feet and will be leased by other companies.

A Food Network show is transforming a small town in Oklahoma. 

In 2011, the Food Network aired the first episode of "The Pioneer Woman," starring Ree Drummond. The show, which was based on Drummond's popular cooking blog, quickly turned Drummond into one of the most beloved personalities on the network.  

Now, a small town near Drummond's family's ranch is reaping the benefits of the star's success. 

Pawhuska, Oklahoma — a small town with just 3,600 residents — attracts up to 15,000 visitors a day thanks to the success of "The Pioneer Woman," Thrillist's Khushbu Shah reported. Tourists flood the town to eat at Drummond's restaurant, shop at her general store, and revel in the "Pioneer Woman" lifestyle. 

Shah's piece paints a fascinating picture of an evolving town. And, it got us wondering what it'd be like to visit Pawhuska ourselves. 

Here's a peek into how one television show transformed the Oklahoma town. 

SEE ALSO: 9 American companies with extremely religious roots

Pawhuska isn't easy to get to. The closest airport, Tulsa, is more than an hour away.

Prior to the rise of "The Pioneer Woman," the town's biggest claim to fame was being the site of the first Boy Scout troop.

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More than one person told Shah that Pawhuska was a "ghost town" until recently.

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Pink is at the top of her game.

The 38-year-old pop star will release her seventh studio album, "Beautiful Trauma," on Friday, October 13. She is preparing for a 40-date North American arena tour kicking off in March 2018.

In August, she was presented with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard award at the MTV Music awards, a title shared among entertainment greats like the Rolling Stones, Tom Petty, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, and Beyoncé.

This week, Pink will make her third appearance on Saturday Night Live as the show's musical guest.

With nearly two decades of stardom under her belt, earning countless accolades and millions of dollars from hit albums and sold-out tours, Pink seems to have one thing many artists and bands can't quite master: Staying power.

Here's what we know about how Pink built a nine-figure net worth and spends her fortune:

SEE ALSO: How Lady Gaga spends her $275 million fortune

DON'T MISS: See inside Jennifer Lopez's penthouse in the exclusive Manhattan building that she just listed for $27 million

It's been 17 years since Pink — whose birth name is Alecia Beth Moore — released her first studio album, "Can't Take Me Home." That year, she took home the award for female new artist of the year at the Billboard Music Awards. Since then, she's amassed an estimated fortune of $110 million.

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Source: The Richest

Pink has sold more than 16 million albums and minted four No. 1 Billboard hits. She's had 11 songs in the top 10 and released a single every year (except one) since 2000. "She doesn't disappear for five years," Tom Poleman, the chief programming officer for iHeartMedia, told the New York Times. "She always stays in the forefront, so people have been able to move and grow with her."

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Source:The New York Times

Her constant presence — and universal appeal — has paid off. In 2013, Pink was the highest earning touring female artist, netting more than $20 million from 114 concert dates, 111 of which were sold out.

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Sources:The Richest, Billboard

Summer may be over, but that doesn't mean you've missed your chance to explore a new destination.

Fall is a great time to travel — there are often fewer crowds, lower prices, and milder weather in some of the most popular tourist destinations around the world. 

If you're looking to take a vacation this fall but aren't quite sure where, take these suggestions from Jamee Lubkemann, vice president of American Express Travel. 

The rewards-focused travel portal provided us with a list of some of the most popular destinations for fall travel this year, using internal booking data to compile it. The platform focused on destinations that saw a large increase in customer interest over the last year, comparing bookings for September through December 2016 to the same months this year. 

Here are some of the most popular places to travel this season: 

SEE ALSO: 18 of the best under-the-radar travel destinations in America

Beirut, Lebanon

Increase in bookings: 150% 

"Cognizant of today's geopolitical climate, Americans are shifting the conversation from apprehension to understanding and are openly exploring destinations in the Middle East – tourism is booming, [and] airlines are creating more routes," Lubkemann said. 

Beirut was once known as the "Paris of the Middle East," in a nod to its French-inspired architecture and vibrant dining scene. As one of the oldest settlements in the world, it's an especially popular destination with history buffs. 

Tel Aviv, Israel

Increase in bookings: 148%

A trip to Tel Aviv could include everything from beach lounging and museum hopping to falafel and hummus sampling.

"Tel Aviv is modern, vibrant, and cosmopolitan," Lubkemann said.

Casablanca, Morocco

Increase in bookings: 86%

Morocco as a whole is trending with modern travelers, but with the promise of new construction projects like Parc de la Ligue Arabe and Grande Theatre de Casablanca, the port city of Casablanca is the place to be right now. 

Explore the spice markets and admire the Moorish architecture while you're there.

Big cities aren't necessarily unsafe.

In fact, some of the safest cities in the world are urban hubs that boast low crime rates and high levels of safety.

The Economist's 2017 safe cities index, sponsored by NEC, ranked 60 cities based on the factors of personal security, digital security, health security, and infrastructure security.

Personal security takes into account urban crime, terrorism, and other violence. Digital security measures threats like cyber attacks. Health security considers healthcare access, hospitals, and emergency services. Infrastructure security looks into cities with safe buildings, roads, and bridges. The Economist analyzed 49 indicators across each aspect of security in order to come up with a score out of 100. Safer cities received higher scores.

Overall, however, The Economist found that man-made dangers, like cyber threats, terrorism, and inequality-induced violence are on the rise in urban areas.

No US cities cracked the very top of the list — San Francisco came closest, with a ranking of 15. On the other hand, Japan and Australia each saw two cities make the top 11.

Here are the safest cities around the globe:

SEE ALSO: What it's really like to work for the DEA

11. Frankfurt, Germany

Overall score: 84.86

Personal security ranking: 11

Digital security ranking: 16

Health security ranking: 3

Infrastructure security ranking: 23

10. Zurich, Switzerland

Overall score: 85.2

Personal security ranking: 20

Digital security ranking: 19

Health security ranking: 4

Infrastructure security ranking: 10

9. Hong Kong

Overall score: 86.22

Personal security ranking: 7

Digital security ranking: 5

Health security ranking: 24

Infrastructure security ranking: 7

Southwest Airlines is getting ready to fly to Hawaii!

The airline said Thursday it will start selling tickets the Aloha State in 2018. When the service will actually launch has yet to be revealed. Southwest is currently securing approval to land in Hawaii from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Although Southwest has yet to announce the new routes, the first flights will begin on California, Southwest executive vice president Andrew Watterson said at a gathering in Los Angeles, according to CBS News. The airline is planning to offer fares that are lower than the market average.

Passengers will fly to Hawaii on Southwest's new line of Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircrafts that have increased range and efficiency and seat 175 passengers.

Southwest is known for allowing customers to change flights without charging a fee. It also allows customers to check to bags for free, provided they adhere to size and weight limitations.

"A day long-awaited by our Customers, fans, and more than 55,000 of the world's most-loved airline Employees is finally within sight — a day that will showcase your Hospitality, about as far Southwest as you can go in the US," Southwest Chairman and CEO Garry Kelly said at an event announcing the new Hawaii route.

"Hawaii is an important place for Southwest Airlines because so many people count on us to take them everywhere they want to go reliably and affordably. We're ready and excited to address a request we've heard for years," he continued.

SEE ALSO: Delta has a new secret weapon against American and Southwest — take a look inside

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NOW WATCH: These tide pools in Hawaii are surrounded by lava rocks

Princeton University is the best college in America, according to the latest ranking from US News & World Report.

The Princeton, New Jersey-based Ivy League school ranked first due to a combination of factors such as its selective admissions rate, high peer assessment scores, and strong graduation rate.

The US News ranks schools using quantitative factors — like graduation and retention rates — and qualitative factors — like peer assessment surveys from college presidents and deans of admissions. The list includes schools which offer a full range of undergraduate majors, plus masters and Ph.D. programs.

Read on below to see which schools round out the top 10.

SEE ALSO: 11 super successful people who went to state schools

10. California Institute of Technology

Pasadena, California

Peer Assessment Score: 4.6

2016 Graduation Rate: 94%

9. Duke University

Durham, North Carolina

Peer Assessment Score: 4.4

2016 Graduation Rate: 95%

8. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Peer Assessment Score: 4.5

2016 Graduation Rate: 95%

Yams and sweet potatoes are not the same thing. In fact, you've probably bought a sweet potato, thinking it was yam!

There are many types of sweet potatoes ranging from white, yellow, red, purple, or brown on the outside with white, yellow, orange, and reddish flesh inside. There are also sweet potatoes that soften during cooking and those that stay firm.

When softer sweet potatoes first hit the market in the US, growers needed a way to differentiate between the two. The soft sweet potatoes resembled African yams, so growers just started calling them yams.

In reality, yams are much starchier and drier than sweet potatoes. They also aren't as sweet.

They're usually only found in international grocery stores so you would have to go out of your way to find them.

Confusingly, growers do still label some sweet potatoes yams but the USDA requires those labels to also mention that they're really just a type of sweet potato.

So next time you shop for "yams," looks closely, you might be in for a "sweet" (potato) surprise!

Join the conversation about this story »

California wildfires have created apocalyptic scenes in wine country, where firefighters were still battling blazes on Thursday morning. The largest fires remain almost completely uncontained.

A series of massive wildfires spread through the counties of Napa, Sonoma, and six others early this week, destroying at least 3,500 homes, businesses, and other structures, and sending residents fleeing for their lives in the middle of the night. An estimated 50,000 people have left their homes for shelters and hotels, and new evacuation orders were issued late on Wednesday.

Dry, gusty winds returned overnight, threatening to push flames into unscathed areas.

The situation is considered one of the deadliest fires in state history. At least 31 people are reportedly dead, and another 463 people are reported missing in Sonoma County. Hundreds more have been hospitalized. Local officials describe the death toll as a "fluid number," as the hot zones cool and law enforcement officers begin to uncover human remains in the rubble.

An inferno called the Tubbs Fire (which has accounted for 13 of the deaths) has burned more than 34,000 acres in and around the city of Santa Rosa, according to the Cal Fire website. The Atlas Fire in Napa has charred an additional 43,000 acres. Residents and public officials won't know the full extent of the damage until evacuation orders have been lifted.

"Make no mistake," Cal Fire Director Ken Pimlott said in a news briefing on Wednesday. "This is a serious, critical, catastrophic event."

We will continue to update this story throughout the day.

SEE ALSO: Before-and-after photos show how California's wineries have been devastated by fires

DON'T MISS: The 'Diablo winds' explain why the fires burning California's wine country became so destructive

A series of wildfires ravaging pieces of Northern California's wine country is being called one of the worst firestorms in state history. The largest blazes hit Napa and Sonoma.

There is the city of Napa and the county of Napa, considered the holy grail of wine country. It's home to more than 400 wineries, with many packed side by side along State Route 29.

We went to Napa and the trendy destination people are ditching it for — and the winner is clear »

Sonoma County stretches across nine cities and is three times the area of Napa County.

California's lesser-known wine destination was named the best small town to visit in America — take a look »

The specs for the new iPhone 8 Plus' camera sound enticing — it's one of the most highly touted improvements  on the phone.

But when I was given the chance to compare the new iPhone's camera to the $9,000 Hasselblad X1D digital medium-format camera, I couldn't say no.

While drawing a comparison between a Hasselblad camera that produces 51-megapixel image files and an iPhone that produces 12-megapixel image files might not be totally fair (internally, they rely on different technology to capture a photo), I wanted to see how this incredibly expensive equipment held up when it came to taking everyday, tourist-type photographs.

I wanted to answer the question: when it comes to photographing your next vacation, is it worth investing in one of the best new cameras on the market, or should you stick with your iPhone?

I went to photograph Chinatown — one of my favorite New York City neighborhoods because of its vibrant colors and always-busy streets — to find out.

SEE ALSO: We went to New York City's most expensive neighborhood — home to Wall Streeters and celebrities like Taylor Swift — and saw why it's so popular

In Iceland, there's a three-person committee that approves and rejects parents' decisions about what to name their children. It's called the Mannanafnanefnd.

Daniel Tammet writes about the committee in his new book, "Every Word is a Bird We Teach to Sing: Encounters with the Mysteries and Meanings of Language," which was excerpted on TED.com.

Tammet writes:

"Every month, submissions from parents or prospective parents reach the committee. On average, between one-half and two-thirds of the names proposed will be approved and duly entered in the official register, which presently counts 1,888 boys' names and 1,991 girls'."

In May 2016, the committee rejected a couple's petition to name their child Cleopatra because "the letter C has no place in the Icelandic alphabet."

Iceland's naming committee might sound odd, and unnecessary. It did to me. Then I discovered that versions of these naming rules exist in nations all over the world.

For example, The New Yorker's Lauren Collins reported that in France, before 1993, names that described "things, animals, or qualities" and "names referring to political events" were rejected by the government. Today, Collins writes:

"[A] registrar is required to accept any name, except one he deems not in a child's best interest, in which case he will refer the matter to a judge. In recent years, French courts have rejected such names as Nutella, Prince-William, and, for a pair of twins, Joyeux (Happy) and Patriste (a phonetic take on Not Sad)."

Meanwhile, move to Germany and your child's name must correspond with their gender— if you want to argue, you'll have to file a suit in civil court.

In the US, baby-naming laws vary between individual states.

In California, Governor Jerry Brown recently vetoed a measure that would have permitted diacritical marks (think accents, tildes, and umlauts) in baby names, the Los Angeles Times reported. Texan parents have a lot of leeway in terms of what they can name their child — but Arabic numbers (i.e. 1, 2, 3) are not permitted, Dallas News reports.

Beyond legality, expectant parents have a lot to weigh when naming their child. Business Insider's Rachel Gillett reported that your name may affect your success in life. Consider: If your name is easy to pronounce, you're more likely to attain higher-status positions at work. And if you're a boy with a stereotypically girl's name, you could be more likely to be suspended from school.

SEE ALSO: 15 ways your child's name sets them up for success — or failure

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: A neuroscientist reveals why you're so bad at remembering names

With a career that spans over three decades in TV and movies, Pierce Brosnan has done it all — from belting out songs in the “Mama Mia!” movie to playing James Bond four times.

Since handing in his license to kill as 007 in 2002, following the release of “Die Another Day,” Brosnan has continued his career through a diverse collection of roles. His latest is “The Foreigner,” where he plays a former-IRA-member-turned-British-government-official, who finds himself in a cat-and-mouse game with a persistent father (Jackie Chan) whose daughter died in a terrorist act. And it's one of his best in recent years. The movie also teams Brosnan with director Martin Campbell, who made his first Bond movie, “GoldenEye.”

Business Insider spoke with Brosnan about working again with Campbell, and acting across from Jackie Chan but never actually meeting the man (we’ll let him explain) — but our James Bond questions led to a brief awkward moment.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

Jason Guerrasio: At this point in your career do you not even entertain a project unless it has really interesting pieces to it, like Jackie Chan, or returning to work with someone like Martin Campbell?

Pierce Brosnan: Well, you always try to have interesting elements. You want to be able to get out of bed and kind of go to work and put in a 14-16 hour day, so yes, it better have some point of interest and some meaningful wordsmith or storytelling. And in this particular case it's Martin Campbell. We have a friendship and a relationship of many years. And Jackie, I'm just a huge Jackie Chan fan. I grew up on Bruce Lee and then it was Jackie Chan. He's just one of the great all-around entertainers.

Guerrasio: Did you know Jackie at all before going into this?

Brosnan: No. No, I never knew the man. 

Guerrasio: Did you need a little get-to-know-you meet with him before getting into the intense scenes you two have in this movie? Meet for a drink or something?

Brosnan: No. Not at all. [Laughs] Just showed up for work and if you're cast correctly, and the script has meaning, and you're in the hands of a great director, then everyone knows their job and they know what to do. Jackie and I didn't socialize. We were scheduled for dinners which didn't happen for one reason or another. Mainly because of work. When I wasn't working, Jackie was, and then if he wasn't working, he was back in China working on another movie. The man is completely work obsessed. 

Guerrasio: So did that heighten the scenes because you didn't know him and he's playing a character that's so different from what he's done in the past? 

Brosnan: Jackie was 100% committed to the work at hand, and Martin is a taskmaster in the most glorious fashion. He just doesn't leave the set until the scene is enlivened by the performers. What can I say, I wasn't with Jackie Chan, I was with his character Quan, and that's always wonderful. I fully believed who he was. 

Guerrasio: As the production goes on is there anyone on the cast or crew brave enough to come to you or Martin and ask some "GoldenEye" questions or ask for some stories from set?

Brosnan: Oh yes. Yes. It's a very communal and easy-going atmosphere. And Martin and I would occasionally reference the movie.

Guerrasio: That's interesting. Something would come up on set that would bring back memories of "GoldenEye?" Would it go as far as how to tackle a certain scene? "Martin, remember what we did on 'GoldenEye?'"

Brosnan: No. Nothing like that. Just a quiet understanding of history and what we have done. That's in the past. 

Guerrasio: As the years go by of being removed from Bond do you appreciate it more, or does it become more of a burden? You've said in the past you're marked for life with that role. How do you see it now at this moment in your life?

Brosnan: It was a great job. It was a wonderful part to play. 

Guerrasio: As the years go by do you have a different affection for it?

Brosnan: I’ve always had affection for it. I still have affection for it. 

Guerrasio: Were you shocked Daniel Craig came back for the role?

Brosnan: No. It would have been rude not to. 

Guerrasio: Because I would think that's such a hard role to walk away from. Can you relate to what Craig has gone through? For you, was it hard to walk away from Bond?

Brosnan: What's this got to do with “The Foreigner?"

Guerrasio: Oh, well, I've asked questions about the movie, this is a Q&A, I'm just touching on everything — if that's okay? This is my last one on the topic, Mr. Bronson, was it hard to walk away from Bond?

Brosnan: My name is Brosnan, not Bronson. 

Guerrasio: Did I say that? I'm sorry.

[Pause] 

Guerrasio: Is it hard to walk away from that role?

Brosnan: Completely in keeping with the times.
 
Guerrasio: Another movie I wanted to bring up is "The Thomas Crown Affair," which you also produced. Were you surprised you were never able to do a sequel?

Brosnan: Not in the least. I never wanted a sequel. The studio wanted a sequel. 

Guerrasio: Oh really. Well, one sequel you are doing is "Mama Mia!," are you prepping?

Brosnan: I’m on a plane tomorrow to Croatia.

Guerrasio: Excited to get back into the singing again?

Brosnan: Oh, absolutely. These are dear friends and it's a kick in the pants to play in that movie. It's criminal how much fun we have. 

Guerrasio: And Andy Garcia is coming on this time around.

Brosnan: That I had no idea. Well, you know more than I do. 

Guerrasio: I think that was announced recently. Do you know Andy at all?

Brosnan: I don't. I'm sure it will be fun. I enjoy his work very much. I think I know who he's playing, though. He's going to be great.  

"The Foreigner" opens in theaters October 13.

SEE ALSO: With its $10-a-month service, MoviePass has totally changed my relationship to movie theaters

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Jaleel White played Steve Urkel on 'Family Matters' for 9 years — here’s what he’s up to now

Tim Hortons locations in Buffalo, New York, are selling Buffalo sauce-flavored lattes. 

On Thursday, the coffee chain announced that two locations would serve lattes made with espresso, steamed milk, mocha, and "bold Buffalo sauce." The drink is topped with whipped topping and a dusting of Buffalo seasoning. 

The Buffalo Latte starts at $2.79 and will be served while supplies last. 

Early reaction to the drink ranged from disgust to bafflement. 

The new drink is meant to highlight Tim Hortons' new espresso lineup, which includes lattes, Americanos, and cappuccinos. 

For more fast food coverage, follow us on Instagram!

SEE ALSO: These are the 5 fast-food chains that teens love the most

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: We tried Jollibee — the Filipino fast-food restaurant with thousands of locations around the world

On Thursday morning, the air quality in the Bay Area was worse than in Beijing, which is notorious for having some of the unhealthiest air in the world. In what is being called one of the worst firestorms in California history, smoke heavy with soot continues to blow across the state.

In San Francisco — more than an hour's drive south from the epicenter of the blazes in Santa Rosa — many people are wearing face masks in an attempt to shield themselves from the pollution that hangs like a curtain in the hazy air. The most concerning pollutant is PM2.5, also known as particulate matter. Particulates have a unique ability to penetrate and lodge deep inside the lungs, where they can worsen respiratory issues and trigger asthma attacks.

For people who live in places like Delhi and Beijing, where the air quality regularly reaches or even exceeds the Bay Area's current levels, avoiding the harmful particles is a daily struggle. But Californians accustomed to some of the world's cleanest air are suddenly anxious about the potential health effects of breathing in the smoke, and face masks quickly sold out in local hardware stores this week.

People across Oakland and San Francisco could also be seen wearing masks as they walked to and from work or transit.

Yang Guo, an employee at Citi Bank, said his girlfriend bought the mask he wore in downtown San Francisco on Thursday from Ace Hardware. "It was the last one," he said.

Cole Hardware, another large hardware chain in the Bay Area, was sold out of face masks at all of its locations. "We sold out this morning at 9am sharp," a representative for the store told Business Insider.

Ariel Schwartz, a Business Insider editor who lives in San Francisco, went to Cole Hardware's downtown location on Wednesday evening. The masks were already sold out (she later found one in an emergency kit).

How to protect yourself from the air: Make sure you're wearing the right kind of mask

The best bet for your health is to stay indoors and avoid working or exercising outside when possible. On the Environmental Protection Agency's air quality website, its message to residents is clear: "Everyone ... should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion," especially "people with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children." That's especially tough advice for people with outdoor jobs and the region's homeless.

If you must be outside, wear a mask — and make sure it's the right kind.

"If you have masks available, you should use them," Kristine Roselius, a spokeswoman for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, told SF Gate.

Dust and surgical masks won't help. Instead, make sure your mask has a particulate respirator, a device that's specially designed to keep out soot and other particles that can cause the most harm. The right kind of mask will be marked as such, with labels that say either "NIOSH-approved," "N95," or "N100."

SEE ALSO: The fires devastating California wine country have made the air more toxic than Beijing's — and it's about to get worse

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: An exercise physiologist reveals why she never uses the elliptical — and what she prefers instead

Since late Sunday, a series of wildfires has torched roughly 200,000 acres in Northern California. The situation is being called one of the worst firestorms in state history.

On Thursday, a clearer picture of the devastation began to come together.

The blaze began on Sunday evening and strengthened as strong, dry winds pulled many separate fires across large swaths of fields and freeways. Officials estimate that more than 3,500 homes, businesses, and other structures in eight counties have now been devastated by the fires.

At least 29 people are dead, and the death toll is expected to rise as rescue workers clear through the rubble. More than 460 people have been reported missing in Sonoma County as of Thursday.

These before-and-after photos give us a glimpse of the destruction.

SEE ALSO: The devastating California wine country fires have made the air more toxic than Beijing's — and it's about to get worse

Signorello Estate winery, located on Silverado Trail, has been destroyed. Flames climbed the ivy-covered walls of the winery headquarters on Monday, and it eventually collapsed.

Source: Wine Spectator

Here's the entrance to the fire-ravaged Signorello Estate winery as seen on Monday.

A photo taken inside a tasting room at Signorello Estate winery shows a circular window.

To compete with Airbnb, Ian Schrager's PUBLIC Hotel in New York's Lower East Side offers a modern luxury experience at rates as low as $150/night. To reduce costs, PUBLIC operates with less staff than most hotels and uses technology to replace amenities like standard room service. Following is a transcript of the video.

The PUBLIC hotel offers "luxury for all." PUBLIC is a 367-room hotel in New York City’s Lower East Side. Room rates start at just $150/night, but to reduce costs, PUBLIC has less staff than a typical hotel.

PUBLIC was created by hotelier Ian Schrager, cofounder of legendary NYC nightclub Studio 54. The property was purchased in 2012 for $50 million.

Ian Schrager (Founder, PUBLIC Hotel): You know, I don’t know why the industry is in denial about AirBnB.  You can’t stop a good idea. You may delay it, you may slow it down, but it’s a new idea and at the end the new idea will prevail. And the only way to defeat the new idea, is with another new idea.

Guests check themselves in via kiosks. There's no standard room service. Instead, food orders are placed on the main floor for pickup.

Ian Schrager: We tried to reduce the labor component as much as we could and tried to make the communication as easy as we possibly could through the use of technology, the intuitive technology. We only wanted to have technology if it made things easier or it made it cheaper.

PUBLIC offers several restaurants and bars, a basement club and arts venue, and a rooftop lounge.

Ian Schrager:  Airbnb cannot provide a social, communal experience. They can't. Hotels used to be more than a place to sleep. They should be a microcosm of the best that the city has to offer. We need to provide as hoteliers, those things Airbnb can't provide.

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On Tuesday night, Bob Weinstein made his first public statement after allegations of sexual harassment and assault by his brother, movie producer Harvey Weinstein, surfaced in stories from The New York Times and The New Yorker last week.

"My brother Harvey is obviously a very sick man," Bob told TMZ. "I've urged him to seek immediate professional help because he is in dire need of it. His remorse and apologies to the victims of his abuse are hollow."

Harvey was fired from The Weinstein Company by its board, which includes Bob, who is a cofounder, on October 8. Two days before, however, Page Six reported that tension had been rising between the siblings, referring to them as the "Cain and Abel" of Hollywood.

"Bob's wanted Harvey out for years," a former staffer told Page Six. Bob Weinstein has denied these allegations. 

Together, the brothers owned 42% of the company, and while it has not yet been determined what will happen to Harvey's share, Bob is now currently the head of the company.    

TMZ reported that Harvey believes it was his younger brother who fed information to The New York Times, and it was reported today that The Weinstein Company had known of Harvey's payoffs to women since 2015. 

SEE ALSO: Bob Weinstein calls his brother Harvey 'a very sick man' and a 'world class liar'

Harvey and Bob Weinstein are from New York City, and as Bob wrote in a Vanity Fair article in 2003, the two "grew up in a small two-bedroom apartment in a lower-middle-class housing development called Elechester." In that same article, Bob referred to himself as the "quiet brother."

Source: Vanity Fair

Harvey and Bob Weinstein founded Miramax in 1979 and sold it to Disney for around $70 million in 1997. The name was a nod to their parents, Miriam and Max.

Source: New York magazine

In 2005, the brothers left the company and began The Weinstein Company with a $1 billion investment from Goldman Sachs.

Source: Forbes

An entire neighborhood in Santa Rosa, California, was leveled after a massive wildfire incinerated swaths of wine country early this week.

Nearly two dozen fires, whipped by powerful winds, blew through Napa, Sonoma, and elsewhere on Monday morning.  The blaze torched at least 3,500 homes, businesses, and other structures. The situation is being called one of the deadliest firestorms in state history.

Santa Rosa was among the cities hit the hardest. The neighborhood of Coffey Park — a small, close-knit community made up of single-family homes — has been reduced to rubble.

Thse photos show the scale of the destruction.

SEE ALSO: New satellite photos reveal the California wildfire's shocking damage from space

DON'T MISS: 3 key reasons explain how the massive firestorm in California became one of the worst in state history

Here's what Coffey Park looks like on Google Earth.

An aerial photo taken on Monday shows the devastation left behind.

As the hot zones cool and smoke clears, residents have begun to return to Coffey Park.

A series of fires whipped by powerful winds incinerated parts of Northern California's wine country early this week. The eight-county blaze has been called one of the deadliest firestorms in state history.

Nearly two dozen fires erupted late Sunday night in the wine-making region north of San Francisco. Tens of thousands of people have fled, and at least 3,500 homes, businesses, and other structures have burned.

A blaze called the Tubbs Fire has burned at least 34,000 acres in and around the city of Santa Rosa, according to the Cal Fire website. The Atlas Fire in Napa Valley has devastated an additional 43,000 acres. The extent of the damage is unknown.

This map shows the counties affected by the firestorm and where some of the fires are burning, as of 5 PM ET (2 PM PT) on Thursday. Scroll over the map to see county names.

SEE ALSO: Photos show how wildfires are ravaging parts of California's wine country

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