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California’s Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency on Wednesday, saying the state is battling 367 known fires, as tens of thousands of residents have been forced to evacuate and more are likely.
What has been called an ‘historic’ number of lightning strikes has contributed to over 300 fires being sparked in California. In Northern California alone, an estimated 46,225 acres were burning.
Governor Gavin Newsom told reporters on Wednesday that the state was currently battling 367 known fires, The Guardian reported.
Newsom said the state had been struck by lightning 10,849 times over the course of 72 hours, Deadline reported. Most of the state’s wildfires have been caused by lightning, officials said.
An equally historic West Coast heat wave delivering triple-digit heat has exacerbated the fire situation in the state, as well as further compounded by sustained high winds,
As of Wednesday, over 220 square miles of land was burning, and at least 100 structures had been damaged or destroyed, the Weather Company reported.
A helicopter pilot died while fighting a fire in central California, CNN reported. The helicopter crash also sparked an additional fire.
The raging, lightning-spark fires forced tens of thousands of northern California residents to be evacuated on Wednesday as flames raged out of control, NBC News reported.
Governor Gavin Newsom declared a statewide emergency on Wednesday, and also warned of “imminent” rolling power outages.
Additionally, the governor mobilized the National Guard to assist local agencies with the multiple ongoing emergencies.
Tens of thousands of residents in Northern California were issued mandatory evacuation orders to leave their homes.
However, not everyone is complying. Fire officials in the state pleaded with residents to heed the evacuation orders. In Vacaville on Wednesday, firefighters and police officers went door-to-door to rush residents to evacuate.
CNN reported: “Some people just west of Vacaville — a city of about 100,000 residents between San Francisco and Sacramento — were ordered to evacuate as fires burned in the hills.”
Officials added that it is likely that more people will be told to leave their homes in various parts throughout the state on Thursday.
“My recommendation is that all the citizens in California be ready to go if there is a wildfire,” said Cal Fire spokeswoman Lynnette Round on Wednesday.
“Residents have to have their bags packed up with your nose facing out your driveway so you can leave quickly. Everybody should be ready to go, especially if you’re in a wildfire area.”
One of the most important things to take with you is prescription medications, especially those life-saving prescriptions for people with conditions such as heart, asthma, diabetes, and others, even arthritis pain relief medication.
It’s important to also pack and take important documents and other items with you that you may normally keep in a safe. These items may not be spared in a fire.
