Mendocino Complex fire is the largest of eight major fires burning out of control across California

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

California’s biggest wildfire on record is expected to burn for the rest of the month, fire officials said on Tuesday, as hot and windy conditions challenged thousands of fire crews battling eight major blazes burning out of control across the state.

The Mendocino Complex grew to span 1,176 sq km (454 sq miles) by Tuesday morning, with barely a third of it contained since two wildfires merged at the southern tip of the Mendocino national forest, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said.

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It is the largest of eight major fires burning out of control across California, prompting Donald Trump to declare a “major disaster” in the state.

On Monday, twin fires north of San Francisco burning just miles apart became the largest collective wildfire in state history after destroying more than 1,147 sq km (443 sq miles) of forest and rural land across an area nearly the size of Los Angeles.

In all, more than 14,000 firefighters are battling major blazes throughout California.

The size of the Mendocino Complex fire has surpassed that of last year’s Thomas fire, which burned 1,141 sq km (440 sq miles) in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties and destroyed more than 1,000 structures.

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The Mendocino Complex has burnt 75 homes and forced the evacuation of thousands of people. Fire officials had hoped to extinguish the fire by mid-August, but pushed that date to early September on Tuesday.

Temperatures could reach 43C (110F) in northern California over the next few days, with winds fanning the flames of the complex, a National Weather Service meteorologist said.

The 3,900 personnel battling the Mendocino Complex on Monday were focusing on keeping flames from breaking through fire lines on a ridge above the foothill communities of Nice, Lucerne, Glen Haven, and Clearlake Oaks, said Tricia Austin, a spokeswoman for Cal Fire.

Play Video 0:35 Mendocino Complex fire: aerial footage shows scale of California's biggest ever blaze – video report

Elsewhere in California, evacuations were ordered for cabins in Cleveland national forest’s canyons in Orange County on Monday afternoon, after a blaze broke out to quickly engulf 2.8 sq km (1 sq mile).

The Carr fire, which has torched 676 sq km (261 sq miles) in the scenic Shasta-Trinity region north of Sacramento since breaking out on 23 July, was 47% contained.

The Carr fire has been blamed for seven deaths, including that of a 21-year-old Pacific Gas and Electric Company lineman Jay Ayeta. The company said on Sunday he was killed in a vehicle crash as he worked with crews in dangerous terrain.

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“California wildfires are being magnified and made so much worse by the bad environmental laws which aren’t allowing massive amount of readily available water to be properly utilized,” Trump wrote on Twitter, without providing supporting evidence.

A Cal Fire spokesman declined to comment on Trump’s claims but said crews did not lack water to fight the flames.

Environmental activists and some politicians say the intensity of the state’s wildfire season could be linked in part to climate change.