California sees 7,860 wildfires, 3.4 mln acres burned this year

San Francisco, Sep 17 (IANS) US California has suffered 7,860 wildfires, which have burned more than 3.4 million acres (about 13,759 sq km) this year, state Governor Gavin Newsom said.

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, Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday.

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.

–IANS

rt/