California wildfire becomes largest ever

LOS ANGELES: The Mendocino Complex became the largest wildfire in Californian history yesterday as it raged at the southern tip of the Mendocino National Forest where crews battled to keep flames from descending into foothill communities.

The Mendocino Complex Fire, made up of two conflagrations that merged, grew to 114,800ha and was still growing, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.

Nearly 3900 people were fighting the Mendocino Complex Fire, including crews from Arizona, Washington and Alaska.

On Monday, 140 fire managers and specialists from Australia and New Zealand underwent training and were issued safety gear at the National Interagency Fire Centre in Boise before being deployed to fires in the Pacific Northwest and California.

Some 200 soldiers from the 14th Brigade Engineer Battalion at Joint Base LewisMcChord near Tacoma, Washington, have also been called in to help in one of the most destructive fire seasons on record.

The Mendocino Complex, which has destroyed 75 homes and forced thousands to flee, is the largest of eight major wildfires burning out of control across California.

‘‘California wildfires are being magnified & made so much worse by the bad environmental laws which aren’t allowing massive amount of readily available water to be properly utilized,’’ Trump also wrote on Twitter.

A California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman declined to comment on Trump’s tweet but said crews did not lack water to fight the flames. — Reuters