California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency as three mega-wildfires are still blazing across four counties in Southern California.
Newsom visited Highland on Wednesday and issued a state of emergency in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties due to the Bridge Fire and in Orange and Riverside counties due to the Airport Fire it was announced.
The governor's office said it had secured federal assistance to support the response to the fast-moving Bridge, Airport and Line fires, reports Xinhua news agency.
The fires, which erupted last week, exploded during the weekend as searing temperatures and critically dry vegetation came in a record-setting heat wave across Southern California.
Newsom declared a state of emergency for the Line Fire in San Bernardino County on Saturday.
On Monday, he mobilized the California National Guard to support close to 2,000 firefighters battling the wildfire.
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As of Wednesday evening, the Line Fire has burned more than 36,481 acres (147.6 square km) and is at 18 per cent contained, with mandatory evacuation orders issued for thousands of people, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, better known as Cal Fire.
In 24 hours, the Bridge Fire exploded more than ten times in size: It grew from 4,000 acres on Tuesday to over 50,000 acres at zero containment. The fire, which broke out on Sunday in the Angeles National Forest in Los Angeles County, was nearly 100 km west of the Line Fire.
In an update given at 1:45 p.m. Wednesday, officials estimated the fire destroyed about 40 homes and cabins. So far, no major reports of injuries or deaths from the fire have come in.
Fire officials tallied more than 1,000 structures threatened by the fire.
The third major wildfire in Southern California, the Airport fire, started in Trabuco Canyon of Orange County on Monday afternoon. It has so far burnt more than 23,000 acres by Wednesday night and contains five per cent.
The state has marshaled an all-out ground and air response to contain the wildfires and communities threatened by them, with nearly 6,000 boots on the ground, hundreds of engines, dozers and water tankers, 51 helicopters, and nine fixed-wing aircraft, Newsom's office said in a statement.
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