Wildfires prompt California Guv to request major disaster declaration

San Francisco, Aug 25 (IANS) Massive wildfires raging in California, which have forced the evacuation of at least 38,711 residents, prompted the state's Governor Gavin Newsom to request a major disaster declaration from President Joe Biden.

According to Thom Porter, chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention (Cal Fire), Caldor Fire, which started on August 14, has become the top firefighting priority in the nation, reports Xinhua news agency.

As of Tuesday, it has burned down 117,704 acres of land with only 9 per cent containment.

Even though 2,119 firefighters were battling the blaze, the Incident Management Team (IMT) identified a long list of "critical resource needs" requested on Monday, including 330 engines, 60 hand crews, 17 division supervisors, and 40 other overhead personnel.

In a federal request delivered by the state on Tuesday, Newsom said a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration would assist state and local wildfire response and recovery efforts in Lassen, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama and Trinity counties, all located in Northern California.

"We are deploying every available tool we have to keep communities safe as California battles these catastrophic wildfires driven by climate change impacts," Newsom said.

He noted that 12 major fires burning across the state had caused extensive damage to residences and infrastructure.

As of August 22, a total of 13,712 people and 1,031 engines were at work on the front lines of wildfires statewide.

However, the request did not cover Caldor Fire, with limited specific to Dixie, Antelope, McFarland, Monument and River fires.

Dixie Fire, the second largest fire in California's history, has been burning for more than a month and swelled to more than 725,000 acres with 40 per cent containment.

So far, damage inspections of Caldor Fire had finished by approximately 40 per cent, local Capital Radio reported on Tuesday.

Crews had documented 455 residences and 11 commercial structures on the list of structures destroyed, including one school, a church, a post office, and two fire stations.