Ten days and more than 200,000 scorched acres later, Donald Trump has tapped out a Twitter response to California’s devastating wildfires.

The president regularly uses Twitter to communicate with the American people, issuing 140-character policy proclamations or messages of support. But in the days since powerful winds ignited voracious wildfires across California’s wine country, Mr Trump’s hadn’t specifically tweeted a word on the catastrophe.

Finally breaking the Twitter silence, Mr Trump wrote that “Our hearts are with all affected by the wildfires in California”, praising the first responders who have been battling the blazes.

Dry vegetation and whipping winds have helped propel some of the worst infernos in California’s history. Since the fires began last Sunday evening, at least 42 people have died and thousands of homes and businesses have been reduced to ash - the town of Santa Rosa alone has lost well over 2,000 homes.

The Trump administration has not been absent from the effort to combat the flames. Mr Trump authorized a federal disaster declaration days after the conflagrations began, which directed federal resources to California, and White Home Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders opened a briefing last Tuesday by saying “our hearts go out to the people of California who are enduring the wildfires taking place now”.

During a speech in Pennsylvania last week, Mr Trump said “our hearts are also with the victims of the wildfires”, a clip of which he shared in a tweet whose text made no mention of the fires. Earlier this week, president batted down a question from a reporter who suggested California felt “left out”.

Fires in Portugal and Spain Show all 9 1 /9 Fires in Portugal and Spain Fires in Portugal and Spain A firefighter tries to extinguish a fire in Cabanoes near Louzan as wildfires raged in Portugal AFP/Getty Images Fires in Portugal and Spain A fireman works to extinguish a forest fire in northern Spain EPA Fires in Portugal and Spain Firefighters work to extinguish flames from a forest fire in Portugal REUTERS Fires in Portugal and Spain Fire rages through Ancares natural reserve in Spain EPA Fires in Portugal and Spain A burned house is seen following a forest fire in Pinheiro do Azere , Portugal REUTERS Fires in Portugal and Spain Smoke rises from a forest fire in Soutomaior, Galicia, Spain EPA Fires in Portugal and Spain A woman pours water over a burnt area in Vila Nova AFP/Getty Images Fires in Portugal and Spain A villager checks a burnt area under the rain in Soutomaior after a wild fire in Pontevedra AP Fires in Portugal and Spain A general view of the burnt land in Muinos, Galicia, Spain EPA

“We have FEMA there. We have military there. We have first responders there. It’s a tragic situation. But we're working very closely with the representatives from California, and we're doing a good job”, Mr Trump said, interrupting the reporter.

But that concern was not reflected on Mr Trump’s preferred medium of Twitter, where he was otherwise prolific. The president has tweeted more than 100 times since last Monday, when officials began to grasp the devastating scale of fires that had led to frantic overnight evacuations.

Deadly fires rage across California

Topics he addressed before Wednesday morning’s message of solidarity included the booming stock market - a subject Mr Trump returned to numerous times - and protests by NFL players. He has repeatedly lashed out at the news media, former Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, congressional Democrats and Republican senator Bob Corker.