Giant wildfire doubles in size as it rages out of control

Exhausted firefighters across California are battling to contain 16 major fires burning in hot, dry and windy conditions.

At least seven people have been killed in the Carr Fire in the state’s north.

US President Donald Trump blamed California’s environmental laws for the wildfires – leaving experts bewildered.

He tweeted: “California wildfires are being magnified & made so much worse by the bad environmental laws which HUGE wildfires continue to ravage California, with one blaze nearly doubling in size in the past three days, making it the largest in the state’s history.

Known as the Mendocino Complex Fire, the flames have spread rapidly to burn 283,800 acres of land – an area almost the size of Los Angeles.

Since Friday it has grown by 80%. And as of yesterday, it was only 30% contained and had already destroyed 75 homes. aren’t allowing massive amount of readily available water to be properly utilised.

“It is being diverted into the Pacific Ocean...”

It was unclear what California laws the President was referring to.

Henri Grissino-Mayer, a geography professor at the University of Tennessee, said he had “no clue” what Trump was referring to. “California does not divert water to the ocean,” he said. “Ridiculous...”