Evening summary Thanks for sticking with us today: Wildfires have burned a record 2.3m acres across California. Hundreds of thousands of Californians face planned power outages in the upcoming week. Cal Fire issued red flag warnings for the entirety of the state through Wednesday, with northern California facing Diablo winds and southern California facing Santa Ana winds. With the fast-growing Creek fire burning to the south and the Blue Jay fire burning within its borders, yellow skies – and ash – have covered Yosemite national park, one of California’s crown jewels, over the past few days. Cal Fire lays down some terrifying stats: https://twitter.com/CAL_FIRE/status/1303466388317634560?s=20 While fires burn throughout California, they also burn in Oregon and Washington as well. Take a look at this satellite imagery of the West Coast: With the smoke from the wildfires cloaking much of the state in some of the worst air quality in the world, unhoused or housing-insecure Californians living outside amid a pandemic now find themselves struggling to catch their breath: The Creek fire burning in central California required unprecedented military-assisted emergency airlift evacuations. Here are some scenes of evacuees arriving safely in Fresno this morning: The fires burning in the North Complex in Plumas national forest are growing at a concerning rate, with the Butte county sheriff upgrading an evacuation warning to an evacuation order for three communities where almost 1,000 live. These fires started 17 August. Like so many others, they were caused by lightning. About 150 to 200 miles north of San Francisco, the sky is blood-red in the middle of the afternoon. A number of fires are causing this eerie sight: the August Complex, which has been burning in Mendocino national forest since 17 August, comprises 37 different fires that have either been contained or merged. The most recent addition is the Hopkins fire, which was 15,466 acres and located about 25 miles north-east of Covelo in the Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel wilderness and the Shasta Trinity national forest. Currently, the blaze is burning at 356,312 acres and is 24% contained. It is burning across five counties: Glenn, Mendocino, Lake, Tehama and Trinity. Like so many other blazes currently burning in California, it was caused by lightning. In San Diego, firefighters are battling the Valley fire, which broke out on Saturday. Evacuation orders are in place for several regions throughout the county, and the sheriff’s department has closed down a number of roads. Thirty-six homes and businesses have been destroyed and two people have been injured in fire that has grown to 17,345 acres and is 3% contained. Newsom: climate change is real Gavin Newsom, California’s governor, used his Tuesday news briefing to bring into context the recent unprecedented heatwave, what firefighters have since dubbed the August Lightning Siege, these nonstop wildfires and the subsequent smoke-filled unhealthy air: Hey there, Vivian Ho taking over the liveblog for the afternoon. Here are some views of the North Complex Fire burning in northern California. Reminder that complex fires are fires that had at least two or more fires within them that were attributed to the same incident. Some fires within the complex fires have names too. For example, the Hennessy fire is part of the LNU Lightning Complex fire, currently the third-largest fire in California history. And here we have the Bear Fire, but if you head over to the Cal Fire incident map, there is no Bear Fire listed - it’s part of the North Complex fire. The North Complex Fire has burned 40,843 acres and is 51% contained. Parts of California are facing power blackouts this week and more are at risk owed to extreme weather and ongoing wildfires. The utility company Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) cut power in parts of northern California early this week to reduce wildfire risk. Cutoffs began in some parts of the state on Monday night and more were possible into late Wednesday, the company said. PG&E shut down parts of its electric grid to avoid potential wildfires if its equipment were to be downed by strong winds. The company is also at risk of exhausting the power grid after a historic heatwave pummeled the state over the weekend. In a press conference on Tuesday, California governor Gavin Newsom said a weekend heat wave was putting extraordinary pressure on California’s utilities. Usually the state averages 38,000 daily megawatts of energy use at its peak, but over the weekend it reached more than 47,000 megawatts. “We have put severe pressure on our grid,” Newsom said. Cal Fire issued a “red flag” warning for nearly the entirety of the state of California as of Tuesday, as well as parts of neighboring states. The warning is meant to alert fire departments that the state is at maximum risk for the onset or possible onset of fast-moving fires. The agency urges Californians to be extremely cautious during such warning periods, avoiding lighting any campfires or throwing lit materials like cigarette butts outdoors. Today’s warning is due to high winds, low humidity, and high temperatures, continuing from extreme conditions over the weekend. Gavin Newsom, the California governor, finished his press conference on massive wildfires, high winds, heatwaves, and other extreme weather events with strong words about the need to address climate change. “I have no patience for climate change deniers,” he said. “That view is completely inconsistent with the reality on the ground, and the facts of our experiences. You may not believe it, but our own experiences tell a different story here in the state of California.” He said California leads the country in low carbon growth and that other states should also do their part in preventing climate change. In addition to providing updates on the wildfires in California, Gavin Newsom shared more details on the massive heatwave that hit the state over the weekend. Los Angeles county saw temperatures of 121F, a record high. Death Valley was 122F. San Francisco hit 100F on Sunday, breaking a previous same-day record of 92F set more than 100 years ago in 1904. These heatwaves are putting pressure on the energy supply. Usually the state averages 38,000 daily megawatts of energy use at its peak, but over the weekend it reached more than 47,000 megawatts. “We have put severe pressure on our grid,” Newsom said. Newsom said 150 additional people were evacuated this morning from the Creek fire. There are ongoing rescue efforts there, after more than 200 people and more than 10 pets were evacuated on Monday night. The fast-moving fire encircled popular vacation spots before many could leave, requiring a number of rescue flights by the national guard. As of Tuesday morning, the fire is 0% contained and has engulfed more than 140,000 acres. California faces "extraordinary" challenge, governor says In a press conference on Tuesday, California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, addressed the historic wildfire season in the state, sharing updates on size of fires and response to them. “The word historic is a term we use often in the state of California, but these numbers bear fruit to that assertion this is historic,” Newsom said. “It’s rather extraordinary, the challenge we have faced this season.” Newsom said there have been a record number of fires already in 2020, not even halfway through the usual fire season. The number of acres burnt in fires this year is also at a record high, with 1.8m acres burnt since just 15 August - more than 100 times the size of Manhattan, New York. Stay tuned for additional updates from the presser. San Francisco continues its “Spare the Air” alerts for a 22nd consecutive day, meaning wood burning fires are prohibited to help manage the already-poor air quality. Footage from San Francisco shows smog and smoke around the city obscuring the view of its iconic Bay. Washington and Oregon are also facing some extreme air quality issues as the states battle their own wildfires. Seattle, Washington had the 7th worst air quality in the world on Thursday, with an AQI of 137. At least five major fires have spread across the state of Washington in the last few days, fueled in part by strong winds. The largest, the Cold Spring Canyon fire, has spread to 67,000 acres in size and was 0% contained as of Tuesday morning. The fast-moving Creek fire exploded in size on Monday night, pushing California over the edge of a new state record for most acres of land burned during one fire season. The Creek fire is spreading through the Sierra national forest and Fresno county, and as of Tuesday morning, the fire was 0% contained. At least 65 buildings have been burnt, according to Cal Fire, and 5,300 homes are threatened by the fire. Several rescue missions were carried out on Monday night. At least 224 people were lifted out by helicopter after being trapped at Mammoth Pool Reservoir, a popular lake that was busy for the holiday weekend. The fire had blocked the only road out of the site. Harrowing videos emerged of people awaiting rescue as flames encroached upon their campsites. Twelve people lifted out of the reservoir needed hospitalization for broken bones and burns incurred while escaping the flames. Other rescue missions had to be put on hold due to excessive smoke making flying helicopters unsafe. The national guard continued on Tuesday morning to rescue dozens of hikers and campers in parks, many of whom did not have cell service and were unaware the flames were encroaching upon them.