SACRAMENTO, Calif. (NBC) – Record heat and lightning storms are still hindering firefighting efforts throughout California.
It’s already one of the worst fire seasons in history and it’s not even close to being finished.
Overnight exhausted firefighters were back on the frontlines, locked in a desperate weeklong struggle to contain hundreds of colossal wildfires torching whole swaths of California. More than 14,000 firefighters are working around the clock to contain some of the largest fires in state history.
Officials are now worried about the threat of fresh red flag warnings that could prime a new explosion of ragging flames.
More than 600 fires are burning 1.4 million acres, a footprint bigger than the size of Rhode Island now visible from space.
In Northern California, monster flames devoured homes forcing the evacuations of thousands. At least five people have died.
Christa Haefner lost most of her livestock as flames swept thru her parents’ ranch. She said, “I try not to focus on too much. Today was a very hard day.”
Brian Branagan came back to find his home burned to the ground. “It was just a wall of fire about 70 foot high above these trees,” he explained, “and I knew everything was gone at that point. It’s just… it’s just heartbreaking.”
The National Guard will deploy about a dozen 20-person crews along with air-support to fires across the state. Firefighters say right now, they’ll welcome all the help they can get.
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