The "Dixie Fire" raging in Northern California has grown into the second largest forest fire in the history of the US state.
According to the authorities, the huge fire had destroyed 187,562 hectares of land by Sunday morning (local time) - an area larger than Los Angeles.
The "Dixie Fire" has replaced the "Mendocino Complex Fire" from 2018 as the second largest fire in the history of California.
The "Dixie Fire", which has been raging since mid-July, is currently the largest active forest fire in the USA.
According to the fire brigade, only a good fifth of the fire has been brought under control so far.
Around 5,000 firefighters are on duty to contain the flames.
Decreasing wind and higher humidity gave the emergency services a breather at the weekend, but peak temperatures of 38 degrees Celsius are expected again in the middle of next week.
The fire brigade is assuming that the fire will only be extinguished in two weeks.
Thousands of people have already fled the flames.
On Saturday, five people were reported missing in the burned-down former gold rush town of Greenville.
A prolonged period of drought, which experts say was due to climate change, has made large parts of the western United States particularly vulnerable to forest fires. By the end of July, 250 percent more area had been destroyed by fires in California than in 2020. In terms of forest fires, last year was considered the worst in the state's recent history.