The US President Donald Trump has declared California wildfires as a major disaster and has released federal aid to combat it.
Till date, 6 people have been killed and 43 got injured by these wildfires whereas thousands of people have evacuated the area. These are the 3rd largest fires in CA.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has tweeted about the wildfires and its destruction along with a video.
Here is the Tweet of Gavin Newsom
Surveying the SCU Lightning Complex — this is now the third largest wildfire in CA history. pic.twitter.com/MKhVD8u48U
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) August 23, 2020
Firefighters and fire extinguishers are batteling to exhaust the flames which are extremely hot and dangerous. Almost some of the firefighters are on 72-hour shift to control these wildfires due to shortage of personnel. From Friday onwards, the fires have grown moderately by doubling the size.
Around 2,400 fire engines along with 200 aircrafts including 95 fixed-wing planes in combination with 200 National Guardsmen are in this battle to suppress the fires.
Also, Read | California Fires: 367 Blazes Set By 11,000 Bolts Of Lightning in 72 Hrs
Smoke from California wildfires is now visible in Kansas City which is 2,192 kms away.
Approximately 12,000 dry lightning strikes have blazed these fires a week ago. the historic heatwave and the record-breaking temperatures in the Death Valley have worsened the situation with wildfires.
Adding to these, the forecast of high winds in the coming days are threatening the citizens as the fires may further drive to new areas.
The devastation of California wildfires so far
Redwood trees that are about 2000 years old have been scorched in these flames. Big Basin State Park which is a historic visitor centre in California has been burnt to the ground. Inside the Park, there are trees which are as tall as 100 metres (330 ft) which turned into coal and ash.
The destruction caused to properties by California wildfires
- Fires have burned through parts of California’s prominent wine-growing regions of Napa and Sonoma North of San Francisco
- 115 homes have been destroyed in Santa Cruz county
- Hundreds of buildings have burned down
- A total area burned is close to 1 million acres (4,00,000 hectares)