US President Joe Biden has declared California a disaster area and will travel to the state Monday to assess the damage from the wildfires. He will also pledge federal aid, the White House reports.
More than 6,800 wildfires, major and minor, have destroyed an estimated 700,000 acres of wildlife this season in California alone. According to authorities, the resources available to fight the fires, which have been raging for almost a month, have fallen to “dangerously low levels” and have demanded the utmost from firefighters.
The fires have been fueled by extremely hot and dry conditions that experts say are symptomatic of climate change. This year’s fires are among the most devastating ever in the state, regularly seeing wildfires in normal summers.
“President Biden has declared a major disaster in the state of California and has ordered federal assistance in addition to the efforts of the state, tribal and local governments in the affected areas,” the White House said.