California has declared a state of emergency as wildfires consume more than 130,000 acres of land.
State authorities have said the two wildfires, dubbed the “Valley fire” and the “Butte fire”, have destroyed more than 700 homes and displaced over 23,000 people.
Flames have reached up to 60 metres high, eye-witnesses told a local newspaper.
The Valley fire started in Lake Country near the state’s capital Sacramento on 12 September. It later moved towards the centre of the previously evacuated Middletown.
One person, disabled 72-year-old retired teacher Barbara McWilliams, has been confirmed dead. McWilliams, who lived in Lake Country on Cobb Mountain, had advanced multiple sclerosis and was unable to escape her remote home.
A dozen firefighters are also in hospital with severe burns. Governor of California, Jerry Brown, warned in a press conference last week that further casualties are likely.
“These fires will take lives, and they will cause injuries,” said Brown. “We have to do the best we can because we are really in a battle with nature. Nature is more powerful than we are.”
California’s Forestry and Fire Protection Department spokesperson Daniel Berlan told Agence France Presse that high temperatures and years of harsh droughts are to blame for the giant wildfires.
One-third of Californian homes are in areas prone to wildfires, according to data from the US Forest Service. In a recent report analysing climate data, the Forest Service estimated that 4.5 million homes in California are in areas where residential developments are built very close to forests.
The Forest Service said further devastation is likely as people continue to build houses close together in areas vulnerable to wildfires.
Democratic Party senator from California, Dianne Feinstein, has said budget reform is needed to prevent the state’s infamous wildfires. Feinstein argued that federal funds should go towards prevention efforts like removing brush and dead trees.
“California is suffering from one of the worst fire seasons in decades,” she said in a press release. “Unfortunately, the way we pay for firefighting activities worsens the situation.”