Yahoo News California wildfires: New NASA images reveal vast 2 million acre scale of devastation from space as new blazes break out
New NASA images show the vast 2 million acre scale of wildfires devastating California as six new blazes broke out.
The images taken from the International Space Station show huge swathes of smoke over America's west coast.
There are currently 110 large fires burning in the west coast of the United States, covering an area half the size of Wales.
Over the weekend six new large fires were reported in Idaho, Nevada and Oregon.
At least one thousand homes have been destroyed and 30,000 firefighters are still working tirelessly to battle the flames.
The huge fires have been caused by an exceptionally dry season and sustained temperatures above the average of 21C.
Nearly two million acres are burning in the United States. Our @NASAEarth-observing satellites capture this view of burning areas (marked in red) and smoke plumes from the #wildfire areas across the western half of the country. Take a closer look: https://t.co/DApzFTvAyi pic.twitter.com/h3h9OUdXDD
— NASA (@NASA) August 20, 2018
This year's wildfire season has been busy with a total year-to-date acreage burned well above the 10-year average.
Hotter weather attributed to climate change is drying out vegetation, creating more intense fires that spread quickly from rural areas to city subdivisions, climate and fire experts have warned.
But they also blame cities and towns that are expanding housing into previously undeveloped areas.
On Monday, a funeral was held for a firefighter from Utah who was killed last week from falling tree debris after a plane dropped thousands of gallons of flame-supressing liquid on the area where he was helping battle the the wildfire.
Matthew Burchett was one of Utah's most knowledgeable wildland firefighters and was careful about his surroundings, said Ryan Love, a spokesman for the Unified Fire Authority that covers most Salt Lake City suburbs.
"This was not a lack of knowledge by any means," Love said. "It sounds like a pure accident."
Mr Burchett had been a firefighter since high school graduation and thrived in the tough conditions: sleeping on the ground, eating crew members' rations and working to protect people, his family and friends said.
They described him as a sharp, hardworking leader with an infectious grin and unassuming manner who had recovered from a stroke in 2015.
His brother and fellow firefighter Dominic Burchett said he died a hero doing what he loved.
He had an uncanny ability to "weasel' his way into extra work where the action was," his brother said with a smile.
Additional reporting by AP.
