Largest wildfire in California history to burn through August
California's biggest wildfire on record is expected to burn for the rest of the month, fire officials say, as hot and windy conditions challenged thousands of fire crews battling eight major blazes that are out of control.
The Mendocino Complex grew to span 1,176 square kilometres by Tuesday morning, with barely a third of it contained since two wildfires merged at the southern tip of the Mendocino National Forest, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said.
It is the largest of eight major fires that are out of control across California, prompting U.S. President Donald Trump to declare a "major disaster" in the state.
The of the fire has surpassed that of last year's Thomas Fire, which burned 1,140 square kilometres in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, and destroyed more than 1,000 structures.
Nearly half of the 10 largest California wildfires on record occurred in the last decade.
The Mendocino Complex has burned 75 homes and forced the evacuation of thousands of people. Fire officials had hoped to extinguish the fire by mid-August, but on Tuesday pushed that date to early September.
Temperatures could reach 43 C in Northern California over the next few days, with gusty winds fanning the flames of the complex, a National Weather Service meteorologist said.
The 3,900 personnel battling the Mendocino Complex on Monday were focusing on keeping flames from breaking through fire lines on a ridge above the foothill communities of Nice, Lucerne, Glen Haven and Clearlake Oaks, said Tricia Austin, a spokesperson for Cal Fire.
Elsewhere in California, evacuations were ordered for cabins in Cleveland National Forest's canyons in Orange County on Monday afternoon after a blaze broke out to quickly engulf 2.83 square kilometres.
https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.4775931
California's biggest wildfire on record is expected to burn for the rest of the month, fire officials say, as hot and windy conditions challenged thousands of fire crews battling eight major blazes that are out of control.
The Mendocino Complex grew to span 1,176 square kilometres by Tuesday morning, with barely a third of it contained since two wildfires merged at the southern tip of the Mendocino National Forest, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said.
It is the largest of eight major fires that are out of control across California, prompting U.S. President Donald Trump to declare a "major disaster" in the state.
The of the fire has surpassed that of last year's Thomas Fire, which burned 1,140 square kilometres in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, and destroyed more than 1,000 structures.
Nearly half of the 10 largest California wildfires on record occurred in the last decade.
The Mendocino Complex has burned 75 homes and forced the evacuation of thousands of people. Fire officials had hoped to extinguish the fire by mid-August, but on Tuesday pushed that date to early September.
Temperatures could reach 43 C in Northern California over the next few days, with gusty winds fanning the flames of the complex, a National Weather Service meteorologist said.
The 3,900 personnel battling the Mendocino Complex on Monday were focusing on keeping flames from breaking through fire lines on a ridge above the foothill communities of Nice, Lucerne, Glen Haven and Clearlake Oaks, said Tricia Austin, a spokesperson for Cal Fire.
Elsewhere in California, evacuations were ordered for cabins in Cleveland National Forest's canyons in Orange County on Monday afternoon after a blaze broke out to quickly engulf 2.83 square kilometres.
https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.4775931
