California Wildfires Updates: All Active Fires Now Cover Areas Bigger Than the Combined Size of NYC and Boston
All active wildfires across the state of California now cover a perimeter much bigger than the combined area size of New York City and Boston.
As of this writing, there are five active fires across California, namely the Thomas, Rye, Creek, Skirball, and Lilac fires.
Among these active wildfires, the largest in every aspect is undoubtedly the Thomas Fire that has already spread across 234,200 acres of land, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE).
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Meanwhile, the Creek Fire is the next biggest currently active fire in California since it covers 15,619 acres, followed by the Rye Fire spreading to 6,049 acres as of Tuesday morning. But on a positive note, authorities have already contained 98 percent and 96 percent, respectively, of the areas affected by these live wildfires.
The Lilac Fire has reached 4,100 acres but 92 percent of the fire had already been contained on Tuesday morning. On the other hand, 422 acres have been affected by the Skirball Fire to which 85 percent of it is now under control.
The area covered by the Thomas Fire alone is already much bigger than the Big Apple (~195,000 acres) and the entire country of Singapore (~177,700 acres). But, all in all, currently active fires across California cover around 257,890 acres -- much bigger than the combined areas of NYC and Boston (~57,000 acres).
As of Tuesday morning, locations identified as affected by the Thomas Fire include Hwy 150, Hwy 126, north of Santa Paula, as well as communities in the Santa Barbara County and Ventura County.
In the latest information bulletin from CAL FIRE, the authorities confirmed that the fire in 20 percent of the area affected by the Thomas Fire had been contained. However, they are expecting worse situations in the coming days due to several factors.
"Severe fire weather will continue to promote significant fire growth further into Santa Barbara County, threatening the communities of Montecito and Summerland," parts of the CAL FIRE report read. "Gusty Santa Ana winds will continue to push fire to the west while very low fuel moistures, high temperatures and single-digit relative humidities will support fire growth on the west and north sides."
Unfortunately, 794 structures have been destroyed while 187 more were damaged by the Thomas Fire. With its persistent inferno, about 18,000 homes and buildings are still under threat of being wrecked.
