Nearly 240,000 people were evacuated to escape the fires that are ravaging California, whose authorities received, Sunday, August 23, reinforcements in men and equipment, before a possible new series of thunderstorms.

About 20 major homes were still in operation on Sunday, including the LNU Lightning Complex and the SCU Lightning Complex, respectively north and southeast of San Francisco.

The LNU has already crossed over 138,000 hectares, making it the second largest perimeter fire in California history, behind the Mendocino Complex, and its 185,000 hectares that went up in smoke in July 2018. The SCU Complex is already the third most devastating fire, with more than 137,000 hectares destroyed, while it was only 10% contained on Sunday morning.

In total, of all the major fires listed in California, which killed at least five people, more than 1,000 buildings were destroyed, including 845 for the LNU Complex alone, which was 17% contained on Sunday.

Reinforcements

The Californian authorities recognized that the manpower was, at first, insufficient to fight effectively against so many large-scale fires. But the California firefighters have received, in recent hours, reinforcement of men and equipment from several American states, including Oregon, Texas, Arizona and New Mexico.

About 200 men from the National Guard were also mobilized, and about 14,000 firefighters were at work on Sunday. As of Sunday, firefighters could count on more than 200 flying devices, planes and helicopters, including modified military planes to fight the fires. Governor Gavin Newsom has asked for help from Canada and Australia. 

Already under tension, California was preparing to experience a new weather sequence marked by possible thunderstorms until Tuesday, which could lead to the start of fires. It is already a series of thunderstorms and a wave of more than 12,000 lightning, last weekend and at the beginning of the week, which started the current fires.

With AFP

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