California wildfires: Devastation and destruction in pictures
Images show the extent of the monster fires that continue to rage through northern and southern areas of California.
Monday 12 November 2018 05:40, UK
By Lucia Binding, news reporter
Incredible images have captured the ferocious wildfires that have swept areas of northern and southern California.
The number of dead and missing is rising and tens of thousands have been evacuated as three monster wildfires continue to burn out of control across the state.
The Camp Fire in the north and the Woolsey Fire and Hill Fire in the south are being fanned by strong blustery winds combined with dry conditions, authorities have said.
The first of the fires broke out on Thursday, northwest of Los Angeles, and roared south, with homes evacuated in western Los Angeles County and eastern Ventura County.
President Donald Trump blamed the fires on forest mismanagement and threatened to withdraw federal funding.
In a tweet, he wrote: "There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor.
"Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!"
The flames descended on Paradise so rapidly that many people were forced to abandon their cars and run for their lives down the sole road throughout the mountain town.
The town is now empty after the blaze began and spread to nearly 140 square miles on Friday.
Thousands of structures have been destroyed - most of them being homes.
Remains of the victims have been found in burnt out cars and homes.
Hundreds are unaccounted for.
Entire towns have been evacuated.
With fires also burning in southern California, state officials put the total number of people forced from their homes at more than 200,000.
Evacuation orders included the entire city of Malibu, which is home to 13,000 - among them some Hollywood stars.
Pictures taken during the Woolsey Fire show firefighters on Pacific Coast Highway as the blaze engulfed homes and the surrounding areas.
The fire has destroyed dozens of structures as it continues to burn without any containment - and the LA County Sheriff's Office said it was receiving "many emergency phone calls" from people who "need our help to evacuate".
NASA and the US Geological Survey's Landsat 8 satellite captured a view from the fire above, showing hot spots and a massive smoke plume trailing across the landscape.
The images aided management and disaster response with satellites tracking the wildfires - with one of the Camp Fire marking the active blaze in red.
The Camp Fire, which broke out on Thursday at the edge of the Plumas National Forest northeast of Sacramento, has since blackened more than 90,000 acres.