Firefighting teams are continuing their efforts to extinguish the hundreds of fires raging across California, which a combination of intense heat and thunderstorms contributed to the outbreak.
California authorities said that the state was hit by nearly 11,000 lightning strikes within 72 hours, in the worst storm of its kind in more than 10 years, causing 367 fires, more than 20 of them big,.
Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate their homes across California in the past two days, with 23 fires continuing to burn amid a record heat wave in parts of the western United States.
Video clips of the massive fires that struck the Tahoe National Forest on the borders of California and Nevada were shared on social media, and spread today, Thursday, into cities, to citizens' homes.
The clips showed the police forces evacuating citizens from their homes along with the civil defense forces, in an attempt to control the fires and reduce their spread.
This is a home burning off Pleasants Valley Rd in #Vacaville not far from Mix Canyon Rd. I have no idea how many homes were destroyed on the west side of Pleasants Valley, but it will be substantial. #LNULightningComplex #kpixtv pic.twitter.com/NZmpQmQvOs
- Katie Nielsen (@KatieKPIX) August 19, 2020
The LNU Lightning Complex Fire in Vacaville, CA has grown to nearly 50,000 acres, with 0% containment. Chronicle photographer @ScottStrazzante captures the fire along Pleasants Valley and Cantelow Roads. pic.twitter.com/qwWyuq2Nz6
- San Francisco Chronicle (@sfchronicle) August 19, 2020
This morning, the California governor's office declared a state of emergency as a result of the spread of fires and fires, with increasing temperatures in the state and its effect on breathing and the health of citizens, as well as an increase in blazing winds.
Governor @GavinNewsom today declared a statewide emergency to help ensure the availability of vital resources to combat fires burning across the state, which have been exacerbated by the effects of the historic West Coast heat wave & sustained high winds. https://t.co/29FT9lLd6p
- Office of the Governor of California (@CAgovernor) August 18, 2020
The state authorities added that the fires destroyed more than 20 thousand hectares of forest, agricultural and urban areas, as the fires destroyed trees, cars and houses.
In central California, the administration said a helicopter crashed during a firefighting mission in Fresno County, about 258 km south of San Francisco, killing the pilot.
"Forced evacuation orders have been issued in several counties," said Will Bowers, a spokesman for the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, in turn requesting support from neighboring states.