With hundreds of homes destroyed, California Governor Jerry Brown says fire devastation is the ‘new normal’
More than 790 structures have been razed to the ground since blazes broke out across parts of the state
Brutal winds that fuelled southern California fires finally began to ease on Saturday, giving residents and firefighters hope for a respite as the destructive toll of the blazes came into focus.
However, a red alert was extended into Sunday due to expected low humidity.
After a five-day siege, some Californians were finally able to return home to inspect the damage wrought by the wildfires, which forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee and destroyed more than 850 structures including multimillion dollar mansions.
Despite the intensity of the fires that raged on several different fronts – stretching from areas north of Los Angeles down to the San Diego region – authorities have reported only one fatality.
With gusts of up to 95km/h, relentless seasonal winds had continued to stoke the fires on Friday, spitting embers and creating “extreme fire danger”.
“There’s still tons and tons of hotspots out there,” Captain Jon Heggie of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said early on Saturday.
A “red flag” warning issued by the National Weather Service was expected to last until Sunday night.