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LOS ANGELES : Exhausted firefighters are racing to contain hundreds of wildfires raging across California as forecasters warned on Sunday that a looming heatwave was set to deliver drier, hotter conditions.
More than 330 wildfires blazed across the state, as firefighters focused their efforts near the tourist haven of Big Sur and the town of Goleta, near Santa Barbara, 165 kilometres north of Los Angeles.
The blazes have burned 222,235 hectares across California since igniting on June 20, when lightning from dry thunderstorms triggered a series of forest infernos.
Firefighters reported some progress in their fight against the two largest wildfires along the state's central and southern coastline, with the southern blaze 28 percent contained and the Big Sur fire five percent contained late Saturday.
Light winds overnight boosted firefighters' efforts, but forecasts of higher temperatures on Monday combined with lower humidity were set to deliver a fresh setback to the fight to contain the flames.
Temperatures in southern California, likely to hit the low to mid 80s Fahrenheit (27-29 degrees Celsius) on Sunday, were set to rise to 90-98 (32-37 Celsius) through the early part of the week, forecasts said.
Governor Arnold Schwarznegger, who has been criss-crossing the state to visit various fire sites, said Saturday that 400 members of the National Guard had been deployed to help relieve exhausted fire crews.
"Many of the firefighters have been working 24, 36, 48 hours without any sleep at any given time, so it's really very, very tough work," he said, noting that one firefighter had died and two were injured.
Schwarzenegger said the crisis showed that California was confronting an unprecedented crisis, and would need more resources for emergency services.
"Until recently we had a fire season which meant that late summer throughout the fall we had the fire season. Now there is no more fire season. There are fires all year around," he said. "We will need more resources."
A total of 1,783 fires have broken out since June 20, with 332 remaining active according to state fire officials.
The state department of forestry and fire protection, CALFIRE, said 10,554 residences remained threatened, while 34 homes and 51 other structures had been destroyed.
California is frequently hit by scorching wildfires due to its dry climate, Santa Ana winds and recent housing booms which have seen housing spread rapidly into rural and densely forested areas.
In October, some of the worst wildfires in California history killed eight, destroyed 2,000 homes, displaced 640,000 people and caused a one billion dollars in damage. - AFP/de
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