Washington, Shawwal 17, 1436, August 02, 2015, SPA -- At least one death has been confirmed as thousands of firefighters battled Sunday to contain rapidly spreading blazes in northern California, where 12,000 people were ordered to evacuate. Record heat and dry conditions amid four years of drought were complicating efforts to extinguish the fires, which doubled in area in some places from Saturday to Sunday, news reports said, according to dpa. The US Forest Service confirmed that a US Forest Service firefighter from South Daktoa died after getting trapped Thursday by a rapid shift in wind. Governor Jerry Brown on Saturday declared a state of emergency, allowing faster deployment of resources to the fire zones, the Los Angeles Times reported. An estimated 9,000 firefighters already have been deployed. More than 20 large wildfires were burning in the state, many caused by lightning strikes. "This is an unprecedented fire event that is happening on this forest, and forests throughout California," US Forest Service fire management official Mike Minton said Saturday. "It's eclipsing any fire event we've had before, even the 2008 fires," he added. --SPA 23:23 LOCAL TIME 20:23 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w