Two people were killed fighting lightning-sparked California wildfires, and tens of thousands have evacuated homes as the state scrambles to find more firefighters.
A home burns in Vacaville, California where more than 100 structures have been destroyed so far. Photo: AFP
The deaths yesterday of a utility worker and a helicopter pilot participating in the fire response came after nearly 11,000 lightning strikes hit the state over a 72-hour stretch this week, igniting 367 fires. Authorities are warning all 40 million state residents to be ready to evacuate, if necessary.
At least nine fires raced through hills and mountains adjacent to Northern California's drought-parched wine country about 56km southwest of Sacramento.
With several joining up, they formed a 53,000-hectare "megafire" nearly 10 times larger than New York's Manhattan island across five counties.
Collectively known as the LNU Complex Fire, the fires destroyed at least 105 structures in the Vacaville-Fairfield area. A PG&E utility worker died helping first responders and at least four civilians were injured, according to a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire) spokeswoman.
A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Photo: AFP
"It was the scariest thing I've ever seen, the heat, and it came so fast," Stacy Kline, a Fairfield resident whose rural home was saved by her husband, friends and firefighters, told local television station ABC7 News.
In central California a helicopter was on a water-dropping mission in Fresno County about 260km south of San Francisco when it crashed, killing pilot Mike Fournier, 52, a contractor who was a former TV news helicopter pilot and high school football coach, his family said.
A plane drops fire retardant over properties in Napa. A pilot on a similar mission has died in the latest California fires. Photo: AFP
Another cluster of lightning-strike fires burned across 16,000 hectares of San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties, injuring three first responders, forcing 22,000 to evacuate and destroying 20 structures, CalFire said.
Fanned by "red-flag" high winds, the fires are racing through vegetation parched by a record-breaking heat wave.
Governor Gavin Newsom requested 375 fire crews from out of state as resources ran thin, in part as prisoners normally conscripted into firefighting were locked down for Covid-19 or released from prison to slow the spread of the virus.
Governor Gavin Newsom is appealing for more help as California struggles to cope. Photo: AFP
To the east in drought-stricken Colorado, the state's second-largest wildfire in history grew slightly to 50,000 hecatres, containment ticking up to 14 percent as it burned in remote mountains near Grand Junction, about 300km west of Denver.
California has warmed 1 to 2 degrees Fahrenheit since the beginning of the 20th century, and higher temperatures are blamed for longer and more intense fire seasons that have caused eight of its 10 largest wildfires in the last 15 years.
- Reuters