US government approves aid as California battles raging wildfires
At least six people have died and hundreds of buildings have been destroyed. US President Donald Trump declares an emergency.
The US federal government approved aid on Saturday for California as thousands of firefighters battled to contain a series of deadly raging wildfires that have killed six people and destroyed hundreds of buildings.
The largest of the fires menacing the state has nearly doubled in size, while another pushed thousands of people to flee and a third forced the partial closure of the popular Yosemite National Park.
Two young children and their 70-year-old great-grandmother Melody Bledsoe died in the Carr Fire, their family confirmed to US media.
The blaze also killed two fire workers, Cal Fire said, while another – the Ferguson Fire – killed another firefighter.
In declaring an emergency in California, US President Donald Trump “ordered federal assistance to supplement state, tribal and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from a wildfire beginning on July 23,” the White House said.