California National Guard on September 6, 2020, evacuess sit in a
Chinook helicopter after being rescued from the Creek fire by the
National Guard at the Sierra National Forest, about 45 miles (70
kilometers) northeast of Fresno, California. – Dozens of people
were airlifted to safety on September 5, 2020 night after being
trapped by a wildfire near a popular reservoir in northern
California, officials said.Military helicopters have so far rescued
63 people from the Mammoth Pool Reservoir in the Sierra National
Forest, about 45 miles (70 kilometers) northeast of Fresno, the
Fresno Fire Department said on Twitter. (Photo by Handout /
California National Guard / AFP)
Wildfires in California have torched a record more than
two million acres, the state fire department said Monday, as an
uncontrolled blaze forced many residents to flee their
homes.
The record was hit as the wildfire season still has roughly two
months to go in the most populous US state and thousands of
firefighters were battling flames during a scorching heatwave.
“In the past 33 years we have not seen a single year go over two
million acres until this year,” said California Department of
Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) spokeswoman Lynne
Tolmachoff.
“This is definitely record-breaking and we have not even come
close to the end of fire season yet.”
At least seven people have died as a result of this year’s fires
and some 3,800 structures have been damaged or destroyed, according
to Cal Fire figures.
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The last time the number of acres burned got close to two
million was in 2018, the same year as the devastating Camp Fire,
when a little more than 1.9 million acres (769,000 hectares) went
up in flames.
More than 14,100 firefighters were battling 24 different
wildfires as of Monday afternoon, the fire department said in a
tweet.
Among those blazes was the Creek Fire, which started on Friday
in steep and rugged terrain, has so far spread to 78,790 acres and
is zero percent contained, according to Cal Fire.
– Record-breaking heat – The department said on Twitter that 976
personnel were battling the fire, which had continued to grow
“under extreme conditions.”
Another rapidly growing fire, the Oak Fire, began Sunday in
Mendocino county and has already grown to 1,000 acres.
Cal Fire said that 83 personnel were on hand to battle the
blaze, which was zero percent contained.
Evacuation orders were in effect throughout southern California
on Monday afternoon.
In northern California, more than 200 people were airlifted to
safety over the weekend after a fast-moving wildfire trapped them
near the Mammoth Pool Reservoir northeast of Fresno.
They were rescued by military helicopters, with dozens packed
into a Chinook, video shared by the California National Guard
showed.
Record temperatures over the three-day Labor Day weekend have
aggravated already dangerous fire conditions and further stressed
exhausted California firefighters.
California has been baking under scorching conditions with
temperatures reaching a record 121 degrees Fahrenheit (49 Celsius)
on Sunday in Woodland Hills, an all-time high for Los Angeles
county, the National Weather Service said.
-AFP
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