California firefighters are struggling to control the six wildfires currently ablaze. The Thomas Fire, covering over 240,000 acres, is now the fifth largest wildfire in modern Californian history. Much of Los Angeles has been evacuated, and a red flag warning has been placed in LA and Ventura counties. Santa Barbara has been experiencing power outages, and most of the school districts have closed for the time being. Up until Thursday, only one person had died; Virginia Pesola was killed in a car crash while fleeing the fire. A California firefighter was killed; fire chief Ken Pimlott said the victim was apparatus engineer Cory Iverson, 32, a father-of-one whose wife is pregnant with a second child. It has destroyed more than 900 properties, including 729 homes, two residential apartment blocks, two hotels and 18 other commercial properties, and scorched an area the size of New York and Paris combined.

Firefighters from surrounding states have assisted in containing the fires, and numerous celebrities have donated their support.  Cal Fire said 8,144 firefighters were tackling the blaze. Several thousand of those firefighters are prisoners. With climate change, it is predicted that these wildfires will continue to occur on a regular basis. Just months ago, they experienced similar wildfires, which continued to spread due to the dry air and warm climates.

The Thomas fire is currently only 30% contained, and the source is unknown. The Skirball fire has burned up over 400 acres in LA and is threatening the homes of many celebrities.

Source: BBCnews