"Each year, the fire situation in California becomes more catastrophic" affirms Dominique Morvan, professor at Aix-Marseille University and specialist in fire mechanics.
"The state of drought of the vegetation, the meteorological conditions generate more and more intense fires, which lead to a situation out of control, even in an ultra-technological state like this one".
Since the start of 2020, fires have ravaged more than 8,000 km2 in California, nearly 80 times the area of Paris, forcing many residents to flee these fires on a scale unseen since 1987, said Monday. firefighters.
The population asked to evacuate the premises
"This is the first time in 33 years that we have exceeded two million acres, or 8,000 km2," said Lynne Tolmachoff, spokesperson for the fire department.
“It's clearly a record.
And we are still far from the end of the fire season ”.
As of Tuesday, thousands of firefighters were still battling the fires.
Throughout southern California, people were ordered to evacuate and take shelter.