Firefighters from across the western United States, military planes and National Guards have gone to California to take part in the fight against dozens of major wildfires after Donald Trump declared a state of disaster.
The least of the blazes, including the second and third largest wildfires included California history, burning in and around the San Francisco Bay Area, where more than 200,000 people have been told to flee their homes as officials warned of more dry lightning storms approaching.
The move by Mr. Trump means federal aid and aid will be provided to the state. Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, has assured residents that the aid will also be used to help people in counties affected by the fires with crisis counseling, housing and other social services.
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Higher winds, temperatures and further lightning were forecast to hit northern California on Sunday, prompting officials to ensure further damage is inevitable and residents being told to flee their preparations at any moment.
State fire officials have said that since August 15, more than 12,000 lightning strikes across the state have ignited more than 500 wildfires. A sustained heat wave is thought to have ignited the fires as well.
Most of the destruction was caused by three large fire complexes burning through mountainous and wooded countryside in and around the wine country and in the San Francisco Bay Area.
At least six people have died and tens of thousands have been evacuated.
“We have simply not seen such things in so many years,” said Mr Newsom, who has asked for help to contain the fires from Canada, 10 other US states and Australia. The fires are “out of our resources, our staff,” the governor added.
The California Fire Department has issued several statements regarding the insufficient amount of people available to fight the fires.
“All of our resources continue to reach capacity we have not seen in recent history,” said Shana Jones, head of CalFire’s Sonoma-Lake-Napa unit.
It is estimated that more than 14,000 arsonists are struggling with 585 fires that have now burned nearly 1 million acres (400,000 acres).
Hank Hanson, 81, of Vacaville, said: “Tuesday night when I went to bed, I had a beautiful house on a beautiful ranch. By Wednesday night, I had nothing but a bunch of ashes. ”
Like people and houses, the fires have killed precious forestry. Ancient redwood trees at California’s oldest state park, Big Basin Redwoods, plus the park’s headquarters and campground, have been destroyed in the blaze. Smoke from the fires also made the region’s air quality dangerous, forcing people to stay indoors.
Cooler, more humid temperatures on Saturday mean firefighters, who the Associated Press reports are working 72-hour shifts in dangerous, hot conditions, are making progress in the race to put out the blazes. However, there were some setbacks because smokey skies meant that water-dropping planes were grounded for some of the day.
Why wildfires are everyone’s problem
The dramatic change in weather, which has seen forecasters issuing a warning of red flags to last from Sunday morning to Monday evening, and the threat of more storm, could not only start new fires, but the flames already burning, officials warned.
The National Water Service said “lightning and gusty, stormy winds will be the main threat” for some communities, although the change in wind direction means that previously areas with risks are now in the clear.
“As bad as that weather forecast is for certain parts of this fire, it will actually help us move it away from those particular communities,” said Chief Mark Brunton, a battalion commander for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the arson of the state.
However, the threat of fires has not diminished in any way. Two of the three major complexes, the LNU Lightning Complex and the SCU Lightning Complex, now stand as the second and third largest on record in California history. The state’s largest fire in history is still the 2018 Mendocino Complex.
The firefighters punished not only the California Fire Department, but their public health service as well. The state has been hit hard by coronavirus and with more than 650,000 cases recorded, it is officially the most infected area in the US. Because of this, some evacuees have said they are afraid to go to emergency shelters.
US agencies have updated evacuation equipment in light of Covid-19. People forced to flee their homes had to decide whether to stay with family and friends or at evacuation centers, where they run the risk of being exposed to the virus.
Official advice for anyone leaving their home due to burns is to wear at least two face masks per person, such as hand sanitizer, soap and disinfectant wipes.
Additional reporting by agencies
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