A northern California fire fighter rests in this AP photo.
Hundreds of wildfires are burning across California leading thousands to evacuate - amid a blistering heat wave that is now in its second week.
As of Thursday, blazes threatened thousands of homes and blackened city skies, as firefighters are struggling with containment. At least one person has died.
Hundred of thousands of acres have burned as the fires chewed through brushland, rural areas, canyon country and dense forest to the north, east and south of San Francisco. Flames also carved their way through the wine country and the Sierra Nevada.
"Fires are making runs in multiple directions and impacting multiple communities," a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) statement said Wednesday night.
Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a statewide emergency Tuesday, to help secure availability of resources to combat the fires.
A group of 20 separate fires burning near San Jose has been named the SCU Lightning Complex Fire. On Thursday, 137,475 acres had been burned and the flames were 5% contained. SCU Lightning Complex threatens more than 1,400 structures, according to the SCU branch of CalFire.
In Southern California, an 8-day-old blaze near Lake Hughes in northern Los Angeles County mountains continued to be a threat to 4,570 structures after destroying 21 buildings. It was 48% contained as of Thursday.
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