Firefighter set a backfire to make progress against the Thomas Fire before the winds return with the daylight near Lake Casitas on December 9, 2017 near Ojai, California. / AFP.
Washington: The Thomas Fire, the 5th largest forest blaze in California, exceeded 230,000 acres while firefighters were trying to stop it from moving into residential areas in the nearby city of Santa Barbara and Carpentaria.
About 5,000 people were evacuated after it extended to about 5000 additional acres. It also affected the power in the region, that makes 85000 residents of the region without power.
Tomas destroyed 524 buildings and damaged 135 in the city of Ventura city in the same province.
California Governor Jerry Brown said that the fire season used to be a few months in the summer, now it's almost year-long, describing what was happening as "unprecedented".
On Friday, US President Donald Trump announced a state of emergency in the state, directing the Department of Interior Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide the required assistance to California authorities.
Forest fires, mostly in southern California, broke out on Dec. 4.
