Fires rage across US West; state of emergency in California

California’s largest active fire has exploded in size, growing rapidly amid bone-dry fuel and threatening thousands of homes as firefighters scrambled to meet the danger. 

Fire officials compared the Park Fire to the monstrous Camp Fire, which burned out of control in nearby Paradise in 2018, which killed 85 people and torched 11,000 homes.

Reports said more than 130 structures had been destroyed by Friday night, with thousands others threatened.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for areas affected by two wildfires.

The fires, the governor's office said in a statement, were "forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents, destroying homes and threatening critical infrastructure."

Local officials said active and recent wildfires across the state have consumed nearly a half-million acres.

Over 110 active fires were burning across the western US and Canada, sending people fleeing on fire-ringed roads from rural Idaho to eastern Washington.

At least 27,000 fires have burned more than 15,000 square kilometers in the US this year, and in Canada, more than 22,800 square kilometers have burned in more than 3,700 fires so far.

Canada’s Jasper National Park reported significant damage. The fast-moving wildfire there forced 25,000 people to flee and devastated the park’s namesake town, a World Heritage site.

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