WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th October, 2019) The US state of California has announced a state of emergency because of the impact and threat of raging fires across Los Angeles and Sonoma Counties, Governor Gavin Newsom said on Friday.
"I Gavin Newsom, Governor of the State of California, in accordance with the authority vested in me by the State Constitution... hereby proclaim a state of emergency to exist in Los Angeles and Sonoma counties due to these fires," the proclamation said.
The Kincade and Tick fires in the two counties caused the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents, burnt buildings, and threatened critical infrastructure, the proclamation explained.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department said on Thursday that some 50,000 residents had been told to evacuate as the wildfires approach settlements across southern California. The Tick fire was reported on Thursday night and is still raging across some 4,000 acres. In Northern California, the much larger Kincaid Fire had spread across 22,000 acres on Friday.
