Firefighters work in an area hit by the Dixie Fire near Greenville town in Northern California, the United States, on Aug. 19, 2021.(Photo: Xinhua)

 

The Greenville town destroyed by Dixie Fire is seen in Northern California, the United States, Aug. 19, 2021.(Photo: Xinhua)

 
Wildfires raging in U.S. Northern California, which had forced the evacuation of 38,711 residents as of Tuesday, prompted California Governor Gavin Newsom to request a major disaster declaration from President Joe Biden.

According to Thom Porter, chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention (Cal Fire), Caldor Fire, which started on Aug. 14, had become the top firefighting priority in the nation. It had burned down 117,704 acres (476.3 square kilometers) with only 9 percent containment.

Even though 2,119 firefighters were battling the blaze, the Incident Management Team (IMT) identified a long list of "critical resource needs" requested Monday, including 330 engines, 60 hand crews, 17 division supervisors, and 40 other overhead personnel.

In a federal request delivered by the state, Newsom said a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration would assist state and local wildfire response and recovery efforts in Lassen, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama and Trinity counties, all located in Northern California.

"We are deploying every available tool we have to keep communities safe as California battles these catastrophic wildfires driven by climate change impacts," Newsom said, noting that 12 major fires burning across the state had caused extensive damage to residences and infrastructure. As of Aug. 22, a total of 13,712 people and 1,031 engines were at work on the front lines of wildfires statewide.

However, the request did not cover Caldor Fire, with limited specific to Dixie, Antelope, McFarland, Monument and River fires. Dixie Fire, the second largest fire in California's history, has been burning for more than a month and swelled to more than 725,000 acres (2,933.9 square kilometers) with 40 percent containment.

So far, damage inspections of Caldor Fire had finished by approximately 40 percent, local Capital Radio reported Tuesday. Crews had documented 455 residences and 11 commercial structures on the list of structures destroyed, including one school, a church, a post office, and two fire stations.