News Desk

Intense wildfires ignited by heatwave spreads across northern California as citizens are told to leave their homes. According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, almost 28,000 people instructed to evacuate on Thursday after the Thompson fire had broken out two days prior. Hazardously hot weather is expected to continue with temperatures reaching 47C (118F) being forecast in several areas for weeks.
So far, there have been fatalities but 74 structure within the state have been destroyed or severely damaged. Near where the Thompson fire had started, the city of Oroville had to cancel their Independence Day celebrations at risk of further strengthening the fire. Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said the last thing they need is somebody messing around with fireworks and creating problems.

Honea said there have been 4 previous fires within the span of the past couple of weeks and saw that the danger was far from over, adding that

“this is a bad fire season”.

The fire season, which recently began in California, usually lasts through October. Intensity and size of the fires have seen significant growth in the recent years. Between 1996 and 2021, the number of burned areas during the summer in Northern and Central California has increased by 5 times, in contrast to the 24 year period before and scientists claim this is because of manmade climate change.

The National Weather Service has announced this week, warnings of excessive heat and red flag, which indicates scorching, dry and windy weather, around the state. The agency has issued warnings of heat stress or illnesses caused by dangerously high temperature. Since the last week of June, around two dozen fires have scorched more than 10 acres across the state. The largest on was in Fresno County, nearly hitting 14,000 acres.