Wildfires scorch record area in California

Los Angeles, Sep 11 Raging wildfires in California have scorched a record 3.1 million acres of land in the state since August, authorities said.

The previous record of 1.9 million acres was set in 2018, reports Xinhua news agency.

So far, 12 fatalities and over 3,900 structures were destroyed in the fires, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection in a daily update on Thursday.

It has also burned old growth redwoods, charred chaparral and forced evacuations in communities near the coast, in wine country and along the Sierra Nevada,

Approximately 14,000 firefighters remain on the line of 29 major wildfires burning across the state.

The August Complex Fire, a combination of 37 fires sparked by lightning on August 17 in Mendocino National Forest in Northern California, is now the largest blaze in the state's history.

Officials noted that although multiple new blazes erupted on Wednesday, firefighters contained most of them quickly with two growing to large wildfires.

The department stated that while wildfires are natural part of California's landscape, the fire season in the state and across the west is starting earlier and ending later each year.

Officials noted that climate change is considered a key driver of the trend.

( With inputs from IANS )