California governor declares emergency amid fires

[alp227]

Source: AP

ALTURAS, Calif. (AP) — More than a dozen wildfires in California, some of which destroyed homes, forced evacuations and damaged infrastructure, prompted Gov. Jerry Brown to declare a state of emergency on Saturday.

The move came as fires in other West Coast states chewed through parched forests, brush and terrain, destroying some homes and threatening many others.

In California, dry lighting, high temperatures and severe drought conditions exacerbated the fire danger.

Brown's emergency proclamation said that the circumstances and magnitude of the wildfires are beyond the control of any single local government and will require the combined forces of regions to combat. To that end, he secured a federal grant on Saturday to cover 75 percent of the cost to fight a wildfire that started in Oregon and crossed into California.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/fires-force-evacuations-west-coast-states

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The governor of Oregon has also declared a state of emergency.

[Cleita]

1. Global climate change is natural, dint'cha know?

[L0oniX]

6. Yep ...nature always moves in cycles.

[DeSwiss]

2. The western states.....

...are on fire.

http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php?area=usa

K&R

[MrMickeysMom]

7. Thanks for the informative map, DeSwiss

Interesting that British Columbia is dry now with fires.

I'm sure it's a coincidence…

[PasadenaTrudy]

8. Cool map!

Thanks. I bookmarked it. My state of CA seems to be the most active.

[SunSeeker]

3. The Northern California forests are tinder dry. This is a nightmare.

After years of drought, the groundwater is depleted and our gorgeous sequoias and redwoods are stressed. Our pines are infested with beatles and turning yellow. These fires are just adding to an already got devastating situation.

[Hekate]

4. KnR

[TDale313]

5. It really is a dangerous situation.

So dry and it's barely August. It's as bad as I can remember.