California's Great Fires, Governor Seeks International Help

Mr. Newsom asked Canada and Australia for supplies and support, while over 12,000 firefighters from California and 10 other U.S. states are fighting 560 fires. He said Australia has some of the best firefighters in the world specialising in forest fires.

Governor Newsom said the fires have influenced more in northern California, where tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes and, meanwhile, hundreds of dwellings and other buildings have been destroyed.

We haven't seen anything like this in many years”, Mr. Newsom said. These fires are citing our supplies and personnel”.

The weekend weather in California risks empowering the fires that have killed at least five people and injured 43 others, including firefighters, as well as clinched 2020 square kilometers during this historic heat wave.

Currently, there are about 560 hot spots throughout California, many of them of small size and remote areas. Much of the damage was caused by three groups of forest fires and rural areas around the Gulf of San Francisco, as well as vines and vineyards there.

Some of the thousands of years old sequoia trees there are in danger of burning. Buildings in the state park containing these trees have already been damaged.

The third fire has ruined parts of San Mateo and Santa Cruz municipalities.

Over 100 thousand people have been evacuated from fires thought to have started by lightning earlier this week.

US President Donald Trump has blamed California for the fires and seems surprised that officials of that state have not followed his suggestion to prevent them. From Pennsylvania, President Trump said on Thursday that he had told California authorities that “you should clean the trays, clear the forests of the forests. There are many years of broken leaves and trees; and they are so flammable; touch and start (flake)”. / VoA