US wildfires: California Governor urges Australia, Canada to help as blazes intensify

As robust wildfires continue to embezzle the American state of California, Governor Gavin Newsrom has now turned to Australia for help. As per international media reports, six people have been killed by the fires that have charred over a million acres of land statewide. Nearly, 12,000 firefighters are battling the blazes round the clock, state officials confirmed.  

While ten other American states have already sent help, California Governor has now called for international assistance from Australia and Canada. Urging help at a news conference, he said, “These fires are stretching our resources, our personnel”.

The fire which started earlier this month has now accelerated to char almost all of the land near Lake county in northern California. Amongst all the burning fires, nearly 560 are the largest blazes the state has ever seen. According to state officials, the fire, on Aug 21, had doubled forcing  17500 residents to flee.

Trump signs disaster declaration

The wildfire has also called some of the never seen before phenomenon, like fire tornado and 1100 lightning strikes together. In response, President Donald Trump, on August 23, approved a disaster declaration for California, paving the way for federal aid to reach the impacted regions as wildfires in the state have continued to wreak havoc.

Trump acknowledged that a ‘major disaster’ exists in the state after the wildfires started developing on August 14. With the approval of the US President, federal funding will be available to the affected individuals in the counties of Lake, Napa, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, and Yolo.

Read: California Wildfires: Trump Signs Disaster Declaration For Statewide Mitigation Measures

Read: Wildfires Continue In Lake County, California

Meanwhile, state fire officials have said that light winds, cooler and more humid nighttime weather helped fire crews in slowing the spread of the wildfires. However, their efforts could get affected by warm, dry weather, erratic wind gusts and lightning in the forecast for the region, they added. The National Weather Service has issued a warning of high fire danger across the Bay Area and the Central Coast, starting from the morning of Agust 23 to afternoon of August 24.

Read: California Wildfires Burned Nearly One Million Acres In A Week; Five Dead

Read: Wildfires Continue In Lake County, California