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According to recent official reports, California fires death toll has risen to 31, with more than 200 people still unaccounted for.

Six more people were confirmed killed in the Camp Fire in the north of California, taking the toll there to 29.

That fire now equals the deadliest on record in California – the 1933 Griffith Park disaster in Los Angeles.

In the south of the state, the Woolsey Fire has claimed two lives as it damaged beach resorts including Malibu.

An estimated 250,000 people have been forced to flee their homes to avoid three major blazes in the state.

With strengthening winds threatening to spread the flames, California Governor Jerry Brown has urged President Trump to declare a major disaster, a move that would harness more federal emergency funds.

The appeal came a day after President Trump threatened to cut funding for California, blaming the fires on poor forest management.

Emergency teams have been sifting through the remains of more than 6,700 homes and businesses burned down in the town of Paradise.

Paradise and surrounding area bore the brunt of the inferno, which started in nearby forest on November 8.

At a news conference on November 11, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said the bodies of five people had been found in their burned-out homes and a sixth was found inside a vehicle. He said that more than 200 people were still unaccounted for.

The fire is the most destructive in the state’s history and the joint deadliest.

According to fire officials, it has burned more than 109,000 acres and is nearly 25% contained.

The blaze started on November 8 near Thousand Oaks, about 40 miles north-west of central Los Angeles.

By November 11 the fire had consumed 83,000 acres and destroyed at least 177 buildings, officials said. It is only 10% contained. The smaller Hill Fire, nearby, has scorched 4,530 acres and is 75% contained.

Some looting was reported in the southern fire area over the weekend and police said arrests had been made.

Image source Wikipedia

Thomas Fire Becomes Largest Blaze in California’s History

Thomas Fire: California Governor Jerry Brown Brands Wildfires as New Normal

Luxury homes in Malibu and other beach communities are among properties that have fallen victim to the flames.

Gerard Butler shared a picture of a charred house on Twitter, writing: “Returned to my house in Malibu after evacuating. Heartbreaking time across California. Inspired as ever by the courage, spirit and sacrifice of firefighters. Thank you @LAFD. If you can, support these brave men and women at http://SupportLAFD.org .”

Paramount Ranch in Agoura Hills, where the HBO series Westworld is filmed, was also destroyed.

On November 10, firefighters used a respite from strong winds to drop fire retardant in a bid to strengthen firebreaks.

However, officials warned against complacency, with winds of up to 70mph expected over the coming days. They said fires could spread quickly and unexpectedly.

Los Angeles County fire chief Daryl Osby said: “Winds are already blowing. They are going to blow for the next three days. Your house can be rebuilt but you can’t bring your life back.”

Meteorologist David Gomberg told the Los Angeles Times that fire tornadoes were possible.

Governor Jerry Brown’s request to President Donald Trump was aimed at bolstering the emergency response to what he called the “catastrophic” nature of the wildfires.

In a letter, the governor said: “We’re putting everything we’ve got into the fight against these fires and this request ensures communities on the front lines get additional federal aid.”

The president’s response to the fires has been criticized as unsympathetic and ill-informed.

On November 11, during his trip to Paris, President Trump tweeted: “With proper Forest Management, we can stop the devastation constantly going on in California. Get Smart!”

The president has previously blamed Californian officials for wildfires and threatened to withhold federal funding.

In a tweet on November 10, President Trump accused California authorities of “gross mismanagement” of forests.

Governor Brown’s spokesman, Evan Westrub, called President Trump’s comments “inane and uninformed”.

Historically, California’s “wildfire season” started in summer and ran into early autumn. However, experts have warned that the risk is becoming year-round.

The current fires are being blamed on a combination of climate change and transient weather conditions.

Low humidity, warm Santa Ana winds, and dry ground after a rain-free month have produced prime fire-spreading conditions.

California’s population stands at 40 million, almost double what it was in the 1970s, and the number living close to at-risk forest areas is rising.

And recent years have produced record-breaking temperatures, earlier springs, and less reliable rainfall.

Citing the role of a warming climate, Governor Jerry Brown declared: “This is not the new normal, this is the new abnormal. The chickens are coming home to roost, this is real here.”

Neil Young made the same link, writing on his website: “I have lost my home before to a California wildfire, now another.

“We are vulnerable because of climate change; the extreme weather events and our extended drought is part of it.”

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California Governor Jerry Brown has said that devastating wildfires fuelled by climate change are “the new normal”.

He said vast fires, such as the ones that have ravaged southern California in recent days, “could happen every year or every few years”.

“We’re facing a new reality in this state,” the governor said.

Jerry Brown made the comments after surveying the damage in Ventura County, north of Los Angeles.

Thousands of firefighters have been battling the fires since December 4.

Jerry Brown, a Democrat who has attacked the Trump administration’s stance on climate change, said: “We’re facing a new reality in this state, where fires threaten people’s lives, their properties, their neighborhoods, and of course billions and billions of dollars.

“With climate change, some scientists are saying southern California is literally burning up.”

The largest wildfire – known as the Thomas Fire – burned close to 150,000 acres, an area of land roughly the size of Chicago, Reuters reported.

On December 9, firefighters began to make progress in containing the blaze.

Image source Wikimedia

California Wildfires: At Least 17 Dead and More Than 150 Missing

California Wildfires Kill at Least 13 in Wine Country

Six large wildfires, and some smaller blazes, erupted on December 4 in southern California. Fanned by high winds, they swept through tens of thousands of acres in a matter of hours.

The fires have been driven by extreme weather, including low humidity and parched ground.

California authorities issued a purple alert – the highest level warning – amid what it called “extremely critical fire weather”.

The largest of the blazes, the Thomas fire in Ventura County, spread as far as the Pacific coast and swept across 180 square miles.

About 5,700 firefighters were brought in to battle the brushfires, with some drafted in from neighboring states to help.

President Donald Trump issued a state of emergency to “help alleviate the hardship and suffering that the emergency may inflict.”

Hundreds of buildings have been destroyed and vast areas of land have been badly scorched.

Three firefighters were injured and one death was reported after a 70-year-old woman was found dead in her car on an evacuation route.

Nearly 200,000 residents were evacuated from their homes, with many forced to flee in the middle of the night as the flames rapidly spread.

There are fears the blaze will seriously hit California’s multi-million dollar agricultural industry.

About 90% of US avocados are grown in California, and much of the state’s crop has been wiped out.

The strong winds subsided on December 9 and firefighters finally made some progress in containing the fires.

However, forecasters expect the winds to pick up again on December 10 meaning they are under pressure to extinguish them quickly.

Elsewhere, several evacuation orders have been lifted and residents are beginning to return home to assess the damage.

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California Governor Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency after wildfires forced thousands of people to flee their homes in the north of the state.

He said the fires had destroyed buildings in the Napa and Lake counties and threatened hundreds of others.

More than 1,300 people fled Middletown, north of San Francisco, as their homes were consumed by the flames.

Four firefighters who were badly burned are receiving treatment in hospital.

The fires across northern California are being blamed on high temperatures and years of drought.

California spent $212 million fighting the flames in July alone, California’s forestry and fire protection department spokesman Daniel Berlant told the AFP news agency.California wildfires 2015 state of emergency

Daniel Berlant said more than 275 homes and other buildings had been destroyed and the Red Cross is opening emergency shelters for evacuated residents.

One blaze, the Valley Fire, which started on September 12 in Lake County, is said to have burned 40,000 acres.

It was reported to have reached the center of the small town of Middletown on September 13. Its 1,500 residents had already been ordered to evacuate.

The fire spread quickly and witnesses saw flames reach up to 200ft in the air, according to local news reports.

Further east, in Amador and Calaveras counties, around 4,000 firefighters are battling the Butte Fire, which broke out on September 9.

That blaze has so far destroyed around 65,000 acres along with 86 homes and 51 outbuildings. It is only 15% contained and threatens more than 6,000 other buildings, officials say.

Further south, beyond Fresno, firefighters have been tackling the largest of the blazes, the so-called Rough Fire, which has claimed 128,800 acres since it began in late July.

Nearly 3,000 firefighters are tackling that blaze, which is now said to be 29% contained.

They have evacuated the Kings Canyon National Park and working to protect the park’s famous grove of Giant Sequoia trees.

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