As of Sunday evening, there were 77 deaths and 9,700 homes destroyed as a result of the 149,000-acre Camp Fire in Northern California, which started on November 8, according to the Butte County Sheriff's Office.
A second blaze in Southern California called the Woolsey Fire started northwest of Los Angeles also on November 8, has killed at least three people with more than 96,000 acres torched, CNN reported.
According to Cal Fire, the state's forestry and fire protection agency, the Woolsey Fire was now 88 per cent contained
But Cal Fire said that Camp Fire was only 65 per cent contained as of Sunday evening and won't be fully doused until November 30.
Hundreds of deputies, National Guard troops, coroners and anthropologists were sifting through levelled homes and mangled cars for remains.
Officials said the death toll from Camp Fire, the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history, could keep rising.
As of Saturday evening, there were 76 deaths and 9,700 homes destroyed as a result of the 149,000-acre Camp Fire in Northern California, which started on November 8, according to the Butte County Sheriff's Office.
A second blaze in Southern California called the Woolsey Fire started northwest of Los Angeles also on November 8 and has been moving toward the Pacific Coast. It has killed at least two people and destroyed 483 structures.
The Camp Fire covers an area north of state capital Sacramento that is the size of Chicago, reports The Washington post.
Firefighters said on Saturday that slightly more than 50 per cent of the fire has been contained.
No wildfire in California's history has done more damage than the Camp Fire. It burned down the forest town of Paradise.
On Saturday, President Donald Trump toured fire-damaged areas in Northern and Southern California and said it was "very sad to see, but we're all going to work together".
The President criticised forest-management decisions that he suggested were at least partly to blame for the disaster, even though the fires were considered to be more related to a record drought, high winds and a changing climate.
Trump however, provided a reassuring note, saying, "you've got the federal government" at the ready.
California Governor Jerry Brown accompanied Trump and told the media that the state's requests were being answered.
Trump drew wide criticism for a tweet last week blaming the wildfires on "gross mismanagement" of California timberlands and threatening to hold back federal funding from the Democrat-led state.
Butte County Sheriff and Coroner Kory Honea said on Friday evening that the number of people missing due to Northern California's Camp Fire, deemed as the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in the state's history, was 1,011, CNN reported.
Of the 74 victims, 71 were killed in Northern California while the three others died in the Woolsey Fire in Southern California.
As of Friday, the Camp Fire has destroyed about 9,700 homes and scorched 146,000 acres.
President Donald Trump is expected to visit the region on Saturday. Governor Jerry Brown and Governor-elect Gavin Newsom plan to accompany him.
Meanwhile, the Woolsey Fire in Southern California has destroyed 548 structures in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, said Cal Fire, the state's forestry and fire protection agency.
More than 98,000 acres have been burned since the blaze began the same day as Camp Fire on November 8, while over 3,300 firefighters were making progress against the massive wildfire, which was 67 per cent contained as of Friday.
More than 230,000 acres burned in California in the past week -- larger than the cities of Chicago and Boston combined.
In 30 days, firefighters have battled more than 500 blazes, Cal Fire said.
Of the 44 people killed, 42 died in Northern California's Camp Fire, while two others were killed in the Woolsey Fire in Malibu, Butte county Sheriff Kory L. Honea told the media on Monday night.
Honea said more than 200 people remain missing in and around the wooded town of Paradise in northern California, which sits in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada and was popular with retirees, The New York Times reported.
The Camp Fire which broke out in Paradise on the morning of november 8, has already burned about 117,000 acres, destroyed 6,453 homes, and was only about 30 per cent contained.
"My sincere hope is that I don't have to come here each night and report a higher and higher number," Sheriff Honea said.
Camp Fire, which continues to rage in the hills and ravines east of the city of Chico, is also the most destructive fire in California history, with more than 7,100 structures destroyed, most of them homes.
Meanwhile, an estimated 435 structures have been destroyed in the Woolsey Fire west of Los Angeles, up from the 177 figure provided on Sunday night.
Another 57,000 structures were believed to be under threat.
The blaze, which is 30 per cent contained and has charred more than 90,000 acres in communities like Malibu and Thousand Oaks.
The third blaze known as the Hill Fire has ripped through 4,500 acres in Ventura county. It was 85 per cent contained as of Monday, according to Cal Fire.
President Donald Trump on Monday evening said on that he had approved a request to declare the fires in California a major disaster, making people affected eligible for various types of federal government support.
According to the National Weather Service, weather conditions were forecast to worsen in Southern California, where the Woolsey and Hill Fires are raging, The New York Times reported.
Much of that region will face critical fire weather conditions through Tuesday afternoon, with low relative humidity, no rain and a high-wind warning in effect for the mountains. it added.
The strong winds propelled a new brush fire in Simi Valley on Monday morning, which quickly spread to cover about 105 acres before firefighters brought in under control.
Fires continued to rage on both ends of California as of Saturday night, spreading with breakneck speed and displacing hundreds of thousands of people.
Of the 25 victims, 23 were killed in the Camp Fire, that is burning about 100 miles north of state capital Sacramento, while two bodies were found, both burned, in Malibu in a vehicle that had been in the path of the wildfire.
With the discovery of 14 more bodies on Saturday, the Camp Fire surpassed the death toll in last year's Tubbs Fire, which killed 22 people and was the third-deadliest fire in the state's history until now, The New York Times reported.
The deadliest, the Griffith Park fire in 1933, killed 29 people.
Many people in the area affected by the Camp Fire remained unaccounted for, and Sheriff Kory L. Honea of Butte County said on Saturday night that officials were expanding the team of people tasked with searching for bodies.
As of Saturday, it already had destroyed nearly 7,000 structures in and around the mountain town of Paradise, with officials saying the toll could further increase.
About 200,000 people were displaced by the Woolsey Fire, which began on Thursday afternoon near Simi Valley, as fire departments were responding to a second wildfire, called the Hill Fire, just west of Thousand Oaks, reports The Washington Post.
The Woolsey Fire proved to be explosive, expanding within 24 hours to some 35,000 acres.
It raced from the Conejo Valley to the Pacific Ocean, across Highway 101 and the Santa Monica mountains, at speeds that impressed veteran fire officials.
Saturday brought a break in the fierce winds that have whipped the three major wildfires but officials said the gusts will be back on Sunday and most evacuation orders remain in place.
Another round of Santa Ana winds was forecast to whip the area on Sunday through Tuesday, though it may be weaker than Friday's, CNN said.
Fire officials estimate the number of people forced from their homes statewide is more than 300,000; in Los Angeles County it is 170,000.
Firefighters were struggling to put down the flames. The Camp Fire was 20 per cent contained and the Woolsey Fire just 5 per cent. The Hill Fire was 25 per cent contained.
Currently, more than 14,000 firefighters were battling to contain the blazes which were caused by over 12,000 dry lightning strikes last week during a historic heat wave in which temperatures in the Death Valley National Park reached the highest since 1931, the BBC reported.
On Saturday, CalFire, the state's fire department, said that people should brace for more lightning till Tuesday and make further evacuation plans.
According to local authorities, at least six deaths were linked to the wildfires that are believed to be the "largest ever".
Most of the destruction has been caused by three large fire complexes in mountainous and wooded rural areas.
On Saturday, California Governor Gavin Newsom said the S.C.U. Lightening Complex group of about 20 fires south and east of San Francisco is the third-largest in the state's history, the BBC reported.
Video tweeted by the Governor showed burnt tree stumps against the reddened fumes-filled sky and plumes of white smoke rising from ash-laden ground.
Also Read: Wildfire In US State Scorches Over 17,600 Acres
Although California is used to wildfire, Newsom called the fires unlike anything the state had seen before.
"If you don't believe in climate change, come to California," the BBC quoted the Governor as saying.
An evacuation order on Saturday extended to thousands of people in the Bay area near San Jose and warned others to be prepared to abandon their homes at short notice.
It is about 10 per cent contained.
The largest wildfire, called the L.N.U. Lightening complex, is in the prominent wine-growing areas of Napa and Sonoma north of San Francisco and is just 15 per cent contained, CalFire said on Saturday.
Further south in Santa Cruz county, 115 homes have been destroyed and some residents evacuated.
California is also facing electricity shortages, which have caused rolling blackouts for thousands of customers.
Officials have appealed for residents to use less power or risk further cuts.
Related Story: California wildfires toll hit 80, over 990 missing
Satellite images show smoke blanketing nearly all of California, as well most of Nevada and southern Idaho.
Officials have advised people to remain indoors due to the poor air quality outside.
The largest fire recorded in the state was the Mendocino Complex blaze in 2018, according to Cal Fire.
(IANS)
Cal Fire Assistant Deputy Director Daniel Berlant on Sunday said that wildfires have burned more than 3.2 million acres in California, a swath larger than the state of Connecticut, Xinhua news agency reported.
About 16,570 firefighters were battling 29 major wildfires statewide Sunday. The federal, state and local resources assigned to active wildfires include more than 2,200 fire engines, 388 water tenders, 304 bulldozers and 104 aircraft, according to Cal Fire.
The August Complex in Mendocino and Humboldt counties, the largest fire in state history, grew more than 2,000 acres overnight to 877,477, and is 28 percent contained, Cal Fire officials said on Sunday.
So far, 365 structures have been destroyed and 32 damaged, and 14,074 are threatened, according to an incident report of the Creek Fire that is covering 201,908 acres with 8 percent containment.
Officials fighting the Creek Fire in Fresno and Madera counties said that forecasted wind gusts of up to 35 mph will continue to move the flames deep into canyons of the Sierra National Forest on Sunday. Their focus will be on structure defence, according to a report by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Air quality in the San Francisco Bay Area remained unhealthy on Sunday morning.
(IANS)
Also Read:
Death Toll Hits 9, 22 Missing In Nepal Landslide
California Wildfires: Donald Trump Declares Havoc As Major Disaster
In its latest update, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said that more than 5,300 firefighters continued to battle the blazes as of Saturday.
On Friday, windy conditions were experienced across Northern California which challenged efforts in containing the 24 new initial attack wildfires that broke out across the state, it said.
All but two of the initial attack fires were contained, while crews are continuing to make good containment on fires in Napa and Humboldt counties, Cal Fire added.
The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for much of Northern California from Sunday due to extreme fire weather.
Winds will likely be 20 to 30 mph, with gusts of up to 70 mph, which are forecast to be the strongest this year, according to Cal Fire.
Northern California's East Bay Regional Park District will close a number of its facilities out of concern about fire danger, according to a report by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Since the wildfires erupted in California earlier this year, at least 31 people have lost their lives.
The fires have scorched an area totalling 4,129,924 acres so far.
(IANS)
Also Read: California Wildfires: Donald Trump Declares Havoc As Major Disaster