At least 8 dead as 17 major fires burn across California


There are at least 17 major fires burning in California, with more than 12,000 firefighters trying to battle the blazes, Jonathan Cox, Cal Fire battalion chief and information officer, said on Monday.
As of Sunday, more than 200,000 acres had burned, and new fires popped up on Monday, including one that has already destroyed a community of townhouses in Santa Clarita and continues to threaten homes there. "Resources are obviously stretched thin," Cox said, and 150 fire engines from at least a dozen states, including New Jersey and Florida, are headed to California to help.
The Carr Fire in Shasta County has burned more than 95,000 acres and 800 homes, killing at least six people, and the Ferguson Fire near Yosemite National Park has scorched 54,000 acres and killed two firefighters.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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