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California witnesses 7,860 wildfires, 3.4 mn acres burned this year

International Desk
17 Sep 2020 13:49:49 | Update: 17 Sep 2020 13:49:49
California witnesses 7,860 wildfires, 3.4 mn acres burned this year

More than 3.4 million acres (about 13,759 sq km) have burned as US California suffered 7,860 wildfires this year, officials said.

State Governor Gavin Newsom came up with the information on Wednesday, reports Xinhua.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) and the US Forest Service continue to battle the blaze, aided by crews from Montana, Utah, Texas and New Jersey.

The state has more than 17,000 firefighters and 2,200 engines on the fire lines, Newsom said.

The August Complex Fire in Mendocino County, the state's largest-ever, continued growing Wednesday. It has burned through 796,651 acres (about 3,224 sq km) with 30 per cent containment.

The Creek Fire, held at 220,025 acres (about 890 square km) in Fresno and Madera counties, was 18 per cent contained Wednesday morning.

The North Complex fires in Butte, Plumas and Yuba counties remained stable with 273,335 acres (about 1,106 sq km) burned and containment reaching 36 per cent, Cal Fire reported.

According to the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, a European Commission science agency, smoke from the deadly wildfires in US west coastal California, Oregon and Washington will go across the Atlantic Ocean to affect the atmosphere above Europe by this weekend, the San Francisco Chronicle reported on Wednesday.

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