Californians live with threat of more wildfires

California is entering its most dangerous wildfire months, with more than 4,000 square kilometers already burned, setting the stage for another severe fire season.

"The unfortunate thing is that these fires continue to get bigger, but we're surging resources into communities to protect and reduce the impact," said Thom Porter, director of California's Forestry and Fire Protection Department, or Cal Fire, at a news conference last week.

More than twice as much land in California has been engulfed by fires in the first half of this year compared with the same period last year, which set the record for land area burned. This is even before the arrival of autumn, a time in California that is marked with frequent wildfires, bone-dry air and strong offshore winds.

The dozen or so wildfires in California are among the 99 large fires currently burning in the United States. According to the National Interagency Fire Center, the fires have burned more than 10,000 sq km across 12 states.

The fires are largely concentrated in the western part of the US. Montana, which is fighting 24 blazes, currently has the largest number of wildfires. It is followed by Idaho with 21 and Washington with 19.

A total of 6,630 wildfires have raged through California since Jan 1, devouring more than 5,660 sq km, destroying thousands of structures including homes and businesses, and forcing tens of thousands of residents to evacuate.

About 37,000 people have had to flee their homes due to the wildfires, according to the Californian governor's emergency services office. Pacific Gas and Electric, the state's largest utility, cut off power to around 48,000 customers on Aug 17 to prevent power lines from sparking during extremely hot weather.

The Dixie Fire, the second-largest fire in the state's history, started on July 13 and continues to ravage counties in Northern California.

Containment efforts

The Caldor Fire burning in California's El Dorado County has spread to more than 42,200 hectares with only 5 percent containment, authorities have said, adding that more homes and businesses were threatened since the fire jumped Highway 50.

The currently most active fire in California cut a 64.3-km stretch of the Highway 50 in the Sierra Nevada Mountains area, according to Inciweb, an interstate incident information system, in an update on Sunday.

As a transcontinental road in the US, the California portion of Highway 50 is a busy route linking the state's capital city and Lake Tahoe, one of the most famous tourist attractions in the country.

Cal Fire said in a briefing that they do not anticipate reopening Highway 50 in the near future as the blaze still posed a threat to the communities along the road and those traveling on that road. As of Sunday, it said 328 structures had been confirmed destroyed, and 13,114 structures remain threatened.

Xinhua and agencies contributed to this story.