Record California wildfires burn over 4 mln acres

The California wildfires have set a new record, scorching more than 4 million acres this year -- an area twice the size of the state of Connecticut.

That's more than double California's previous record in 2018, when the state saw its deadliest blaze that killed 85 people around the town of Paradise.

On Sunday, the state's fire agency CalFire said over two dozen people have died in this year's fires so far, while nearly 8,500 homes and other structures have been destroyed.

California has suffered five of its six largest wildfires in history this year, sparked by heat waves, dry-lightning sieges and overall drier conditions which climate scientists blame on global warming.

The state suffered a prolonged drought from around 2010 to 2017, causing diseases and insect infestations that killed millions of trees.

That followed a century of fire suppression which built up brush and dead trees, turning some forests into tinderboxes.

Add to that high real-estate prices in cities - and second-home construction - that has meant communities being built up in peripheral, wildland areas that have naturally burned for millennia.

Several major wildfires swept California and Oregon this summer, engulfing cities along the West Coast in flames and hazy orange smoke.

In Napa County, California's world-renowned wine country, the so-called Glass Fire has damaged over a dozen wineries, and threatened the livelihood of many crops which have suffered from smoke exposure.

CalFire says firefighters are expected to get a break this week thanks to cooler temperatures in Northern California along with a chance of rain.