As of Saturday, active wildfires have burned more than 626,000 acres across California.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Friday night for two wildfire areas, saying they have destroyed homes and threatened infrastructure.
The announcements include Butte and Tehama counties — home to the massive Park Fire — and Plumas County, home to the much smaller Gold Complex fire.
The governor’s office said the proclamations make it easier to access unemployment benefits and waive fees to replace lost driver’s licenses and other records, among other benefits for fire victims.
According to the National Interagency Fire Center, seven of California’s major wildfires threatened homes, infrastructure, or both.
The Park Fire started Wednesday in a park in Chico and quickly moved north into the wilds, growing to more than 348,000 acres without containment as of Saturday afternoon, according to Cal Fire. According to Cal Fire statistics, this officially makes the Park Fire the seventh-largest wildfire in California.
This is the biggest fire in the state on Saturday morning.
As of Saturday, blazes have destroyed 134 structures in the park, according to Cal Fire. The National Interagency Fire Center said evacuations and road closures were in effect for that and the Gold Complex fire.
The California fires were among summer wildfires in the West and Canada sending large plumes of smoke into the atmosphere, where NASA satellites, aircraft, and ground-based observatories have captured images of the pollution.
About one million people in the western United States were covered by fire weather watches and warnings Friday night, according to the National Weather Service, which covered the Park Fire area with a red flag warning until 11 p.m. The warning states that the area will be hit by strong winds and low humidity.