California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, declared a state of emergency for two counties, and authorities have ordered evacuations in four of the state’s 58 counties.
Extreme weather phenomena from raging fires to severe droughts and heavy rainfalls have swept across the globe in recent years – an impact of climate change.
Some wildfires have been caused by increased lightning strikes and record summer heat, which is creating bone-dry conditions.
Over this past week, the world broke the record for the Earth’s hottest day ever – twice in a row, first on July 21, then on the following day.
California’s Park Fire was one of 104 active fires burning in the US on Saturday, covering a total of 2845sq km, according to the US National Interagency Fire Centre.
North of California in the state of Oregon, firefighters are scrambling to contain the biggest active fire in the US right now – the Durkee Fire, which combined with the Cow Fire,has burned through 630sq km.
About 20% of the fire had been contained as of Friday.
In Oregon, one pilot was found dead in a small air tanker plane that crashed while fighting one of the wildfires spreading across the US West.
Fires are also raging in Canada’s Alberta province, with flames licking through the Canadian Rockies town of Jasper, prompting authorities to warn of a “wall of fire.”
So far this year, more than 27,000 fires have burned down more than 5800sq m in the US, according to US authorities.
In Canada, more than 3700 fires have burned down more than 8000sq m this year, according to Canadian authorities.
