- California...fires consumed more than 20 thousand hectares of forest force people to flee their homes

California...fires consumed more than 20 thousand hectares of forest force people to flee their homes


Firefighting teams continue their efforts to extinguish the hundreds of fires raging across California, which a combination of intense heat and thunderstorms contributed to the outbreak.

California authorities said that the state suffered nearly 11,000 lightning strikes within 72 hours, in the worst storm of its kind in more than 10 years, causing 367 fires, more than 20 of them large,.

Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate their homes across California in the past two days, with 23 fires continuing to burn amid a record heat wave in parts of the western United States.

Video clips of the massive fires that struck the Tahoe National Forest on the borders of California and Nevada were shared on social media, and spread today, Thursday, into cities, all the way to citizens' homes.

The clips showed the police forces evacuating citizens from their homes along with the civil defense forces, in an attempt to control the fires and reduce their spread. 
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This morning, the California governor's office declared a state of emergency due to the spread of fires and fires, with increasing temperatures in the state and its effect on breathing and citizens' health, as well as an increase in blazing winds.
The state authorities added that the fires consumed more than 20 thousand hectares of forest, agricultural and urban areas, as the fires destroyed trees, cars and houses.
And in central California, the administration said a helicopter crashed during a firefighting mission in Fresno County, about 258 km south of San Francisco, killing the pilot.
"Forced evacuation orders have been issued in several counties," said Will Bowers, a spokesman for the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, in turn requesting support from neighboring states.
 Source : Al Jazeera + agencies + support service
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