Hundreds of fires were started by lightning, Cal Fire spokesman Steve Kaufmann said. There were about 12,000 lightning strikes that started 585 fires in the state last week. Approximately 950,000 acres are burned in the state with more than 13,000 firefighters working the fires, he said.
Gavin Newsom of California announced Saturday that the state has received a presidential declaration for major disasters due to fires burning in the Northern part of the state. This means that President Donald Trump is releasing federal aid to supplement recovery efforts in areas affected by the wildfires.
Those areas include Lake, Napa, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, and Yolo counties, according to a White House statement.
Some firefighters work 24-hour shifts
One of the reasons for a lack of resources: Fewer prisoners in prisons than usual help, due to early release during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Firefighters are worried about forecasts that dry thunderstorms – with lightning but little rain – would spark more fires and existing ones could spread Sunday through Tuesday.
Fires cause more death and destruction than all of 2019
Wildfires in California have caused more deaths and destruction so far this year than in any of 2019. Last year, wildfires burned a total of 260,000 acres and killed three people, according to Cal Fire.
The National Water Service has issued air quality warnings for parts of at least six states: California, Nevada, Oregon, Idaho, Colorado and New Mexico. These warnings warn of moderate to heavy smoke, and advise people – especially those with heart disease or shortness of breath – to stay indoors and limit activity from the outside.
Nearly 41,000 residents in Sonoma County sat on Saturday under evacuation warnings as orders, officials said.
CNN’s Jason Hanna and Paul Vercammen contributed to this report.
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