Hundreds of buildings have been destroyed, thousands of acres of land have been scorched and at least six people have died in one of the …
Hundreds of buildings have been destroyed, thousands of acres of land have been scorched and at least six people have died in one of the worst series of wildfires in California’s history. More than 13,700 firefighters are battling nearly two dozen major fires throughout the state, fire officials said Saturday. Five broad areas of the state are on fire, and the largest blazes remain mostly uncontained. «The worst is not behind us,» tweeted Thom Porter, chief of Cal Fire, the state’s firefighting agency. «We are in a battle rhythm. New lightning activity is expected across the state. Double your efforts, to lookout for yourselves and each other.» The fires were sparked by nearly 12,000 lightning strikes in a dry California terrain that hasn’t seen much rain. The «lightning siege» created close to 600 new wildfires, said Jeremy Rahn, a public information officer for Cal Fire, at a briefing Saturday. The National Guard is providing helicopter support while Air National Guard and the Air Force Reserve is supporting the effort with C-130 aircrafts equipped with water tanks to fight the fire from above.
