FIREFIGHTERS on Sunday battled some of California's largest-ever fires that have forced tens of thousands from their homes and burned one million acres, with further lightning strikes and gusty winds forecast in the days ahead.
Thousands of lightning strikes have hit the state in the past week, igniting fires that left smoke blanketing the region, bringing the total area burned to "close to one million acres," or 400,000 hectares, according to CalFire public information officer Jeremy Rahn.
That is considered a stunning toll this early in California's fire season, which normally runs from August to November, and it comes as exhausted firefighters are already struggling to keep up with the far-flung blazes.
The National Weather Service said dry thunderstorms could spark additional wildfires, adding that "the western US and Great Plains are shrouded under a vast area of smoke." It issued red-flag warnings covering large swaths of northern and central California.
These conditions "could cause erratic winds, extreme fire behavior within the existing fires, and have a potential for new fires to start," the CalFire website said.
Firefighters are stretched so thin that the state has turned down some local officials' requests for help with equipment or personnel, forcing them to rely on volunteers and local agencies, the Los Angeles Times said.
About 2,600 firefighters are now tackling the two largest blazes, out of roughly 14,000 battling "nearly two dozen major fires," according to Rahn.
With California pleading for outside help, several western states, the federal government and even the governments of Canada and Australia have responded.
"Many of these firefighters have been on the lines for 72 hours, and everybody is running on fumes," Assemblyman Jim Wood of the Healdsburg district in Sonoma told the Los Angeles Times. "Our first responders are working to the ragged edge of everything they have."
The disparate force battling the many blazes now includes 2,400 fire engines, 60 of them from other states, with several hundred more requested, CalFire said.
More than 200 aircraft, including 95 fixed-wing planes, are taking part in what CalFire spokesman Daniel Berlant called "a significant air force" dropping loads of water, monitoring the spread of flames or ferrying firefighters and equipment.
Some 200 National Guardsmen have also been mobilized to help, he added.
Governor Gavin Newsom on Saturday posted a dramatic photograph of clouds of smoke rising from fires. "This is from today," he said, "and is just a small part of the nearly 600 fires we are battling this week."
He said Saturday that the White House had granted a request for a presidential disaster declaration to aid in the state's response.
He tweeted apocalyptic images of smoldering orange roadsides thick with smoke, with sparks flying as trees burned ferociously.
Wineries in the famed Napa and Sonoma regions, which are still reeling from blazes in recent years, are under threat.
- Not all have evacuated -
The two largest blazes -- the SCU Lightning Complex to the south of the San Francisco Bay area, and the LNU Lightning Complex to the north -- have burned about 680,000 acres and destroyed more than 850 structures.
They are the second and third largest fires in California history, with the SCU fire only 10 percent contained and the LNU fire 17 percent contained.
Five deaths have been linked to the latest flare-ups, with four bodies recovered on Thursday, including three from a burned house in a rural area of Napa County.
But many residents have refused evacuation orders.
"At least if we're here, we know exactly what's going on," Napa resident John Newman, 68, told the San Francisco Chronicle as he sat in a lawn chair in his driveway. "Family is worried, but it's a little different if you're here firsthand."
Nature reserves were also ravaged. The Big Basin Redwoods State Park said that some of its historic buildings had been destroyed by flames.
The park, where giant redwood trees of well over 500 years old can be found, was "extensively damaged," it said.
About 119,000 people have been evacuated, with many struggling to find shelter and hesitating to go to centers set up by authorities because of coronavirus risks.
In some counties south of San Francisco, evacuees opted to sleep in trailers along the Pacific Ocean as they fled nearby fires, while tourists were urged to leave to free up accommodation.
California has already been struggling, more than most with US states with the coronavirus. The combination of that disease and the thick smoke from wildfires has caused what the San Francisco Chronicle called "a respiratory nightmare."
A doleful headline in the paper asked, "What masks can protect you from both smoke and COVID-19?"
AFP RELAXNEWS
Mon Aug 24 2020
Fire crews, surveillance equipment and other firefighting hardware is coming to California from several states. - AFP Relaxpic
MOM bakal hantar resolusi rayu kerajaan teruskan penganjuran Sukan SEA 2027
MOM akan menghantar resolusi kepada Kementerian Belia dan Sukan untuk merayu agar Malaysia kekal menjadi penganjur Sukan SEA 2027.
AWANI Borneo [29/04/2024] – Perkukuh sektor perhutanan | Calon ADUN Tanjung Batu | Piala Borneo bakal kembali
Laporan berita padat dan ringkas dari Borneo bersama Nickyson Nyambar
#AWANIBorneo 29 April 2024
Sarawak perkukuh kerjasama dengan Sweden, sektor perhutanan tumpuan utama
Calon ADUN Tanjung Batu, Bung Moktar kekal dengan pendirian, Andi reda tapi tunggu bubar dulu
Fazzrudin sambut baik usaha tubuhkan Gagasan Bola Sepak Borneo
#AWANInews
#AWANIBorneo 29 April 2024
Sarawak perkukuh kerjasama dengan Sweden, sektor perhutanan tumpuan utama
Calon ADUN Tanjung Batu, Bung Moktar kekal dengan pendirian, Andi reda tapi tunggu bubar dulu
Fazzrudin sambut baik usaha tubuhkan Gagasan Bola Sepak Borneo
#AWANInews
Vokalis Dewa 19, Virzha kahwin wanita Arab
Salah seorang vokalis Dewa 19, Virzha mengakhiri zaman bujang pada usia 33 tahun.
Blok Negara Islam Sedang ‘Stress’? Langsung Dialog 4 Menteri Luar
Situasi meruncing di Gaza, konflik Iran-Israel dan ditambah pula persaingan kuat dua kuasa, Amerika Syarikat dan China dilihat terus membayangi percaturan geopolitik dan geoekonomi negara-negara Islam di Asia Barat. Menteri Luar Turkiye dan Arab Saudi antara yang tampil duduk sepentas
membincangkan apa lagi yang bakal jadi nanti.
#SpecialMeeting24
membincangkan apa lagi yang bakal jadi nanti.
#SpecialMeeting24
Krisis iklim: Kanak-kanak antara paling terjejas - UNICEF
Apabila bencana alam berlaku, kanak-kanak lebih terdedah dan berpotensi mengalami kesan yang berpanjangan.
Raja Permaisuri Agong terima menghadap Pesuruhjaya Tinggi British ke Malaysia
Raja Permaisuri Agong Raja Zarith Sofiah hari ini berkenan menerima menghadap Pesuruhjaya Tinggi British ke Malaysia Ailsa Terry di Istana Negara.
Masyarakat Cina bersama meriahkan rumah terbuka UMNO Sandakan
Masyarakat Cina di sekitar Sandakan bwersama memeriahkan dan menikmati juadah di rumah terbuka Aidilfitri anjujran UMNO Sandakan.
Gagasan Bola Sepak Borneo bantu tingfkatkan kualiti pemain Sarawak
Presiden Kuching FA Fazzrudin Abdul Rahman menyambut baik uaha menubuhkan Gagasan Bola Sepak Borneo yang diyakini mampu menggilap kualiti bola sepak di pulau itu.
Terserah Bung Moktar, yang penting khidmat untuk rakyat dulu - Andi
ADUN Tanjung Batu, Datuk Andi Muhamad Suryady Bandy menyerahkan kepada Datuk Seri Bung Moktar untuk memastikan kemenangan UMN O dalan PRN 17 namun pada masa sama berharap perkara mengenai calon dibincang selepas DUN Sabah dibubar.
PRN 17: Pimpinan UMNO Sabah berhak nilai calon terbaik
Ketua Perhubungan UMNO Sabah Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin menegaskan pihaknya bertanggungjawab menetukan calon terbaik untuk mewakili parti itu dalam PRN Sabah ke-17.
Piala Asia B-23: Indonesia ajar Australia cara main bola
Walaupun Australia mendominasi perlawanan pada separuh masa kedua, kehandalan benteng pertahanan Indonesia mudah mematahkan serangan demi serangan.
Paderi terkemuka Australia ditikam ketika 'live streaming'
Pemimpin gereja itu dilihat rebah ke lantai dan kedengaran suara jeritan para pengikutnya yang kemudiannya menerpa ke arahnya untuk membantunya.
Beratus dipindahkan susulan banjir di Australia
Perintah supaya berpindah dikekalkan di beberapa pekan selepas hujan lebat dan angin kencang yang menggemparkan komuniti di barat Sydney.
Lawatan rasmi ke Australia dan Jerman turut jana potensi jualan eksport produk Malaysia - PM Anwar
Lawatan rasmi ke Australia dan Jerman baru-baru ini, selain mendatangkan keberhasilan yang positif dengan potensi pelaburan, ia juga telah menjana potensi jualan eksport produk Malaysia.
KESUMA anjur forum, pameran kerjaya berasaskan pekerjaan hijau
Forum bertujuan menggalakkan perkembangan pekerjaan hijau selari dengan keperluan pembangunan ekonomi yang terangkum dan persekitaran mapan.
Kabinet bincang tawaran anjur Sukan Komanwel esok
Kerajaan akan memperincikan mengenai cadangan penganjuran sukan Komanwel 2026 dalam mesyuarat Jemaah Menteri, esok.
'Dua tahun tak cukup buat persiapan Sukan Komanwel'
Katanya, tempoh dua tahun merupakan satu masa yang singkat buat negara untuk membuat persiapan menganjurkan temasya besar tersebut.
Majoriti pelaburan diluluskan dalam sektor pembuatan disumbang pengembangan operasi sedia ada - Tengku Zafrul
Majoriti pelaburan diluluskan dalam sektor pembuatan tahun lepas disumbang daripada pengembangan operasi perniagaan sedia ada.
Lihat Malaysia sebagai pelaburan paling utama, destinasi modal - Anwar
Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim menyeru komuniti pelaburan antarabangsa supaya melihat Malaysia sebagai pelaburan paling utama dan sebuah destinasi modal.
Malaysia, Australia jalin hubungan ekonomi lebih kukuh menerusi empat kerangka utama - Anwar
Anwar berkata hubungan ekonomi antara Australia dan Malaysia berkembang kukuh sejak beberapa tahun kebelakangan ini berdasarkan kepentingan geoekonomi bersama dan usaha memakmurkan serantau.