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Epic Scale of California Wildfires Continues to Grow

Associated Press

   SAN FRANCISCO - The staggering scale of California's wildfires reached
   another milestone Monday: A single fire surpassed 1 million acres
   (about 405,000 hectares).

   The new mark for the August Complex in the Coast Range between San
   Francisco and the Oregon border came a day after the total area of land
   burned by California wildfires this year passed 4 million acres (1.6
   million hectares), more than double the previous record.

   Gov. Gavin Newsom said the amount of land scorched by the August
   Complex is larger than all of the recorded fires in California between
   1932 and 1999.

   "If that's not proof point, testament, to climate change, then I don't
   know what is," Newsom said.

   The August Complex began as dozens of fires ignited by lightning in the
   Mendocino National Forest in mid-August and became California's largest
   fire on record in September. As of Monday, it covered nearly 1,566
   square miles (4,055 square kilometers).

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