Almost one million people in California have been evacuated as a result of more than a dozen wildfires that were scorching across a region from north of Los Angeles to the U.S.-Mexican border, according to latest estimates late Tuesday.
More than 350,000 houses were evacuated in Southern California, encompassing nearly 950,000 people based on average household size, local TV channel KNBC 4 said on its website.
In the hardest hit San Diego area, where over 1,000 homes had been burned down since Sunday by several different fires, one in three homes have been ordered evacuated, the report said.
State officials confirmed that one person had been killed and more than 40 people, including 18 firefighters, injured by the wind-driven fires, which have been raging across the region since the weekend and showed no signs of abating as of Tuesday night.
They said the series of fires had burned across about 1,500 square km, destroying more than 1,600 homes and prompting the biggest evacuation in California history.
President George W. Bush earlier in the day declared a state of emergency in Southern California and mobilized the federal emergency assistance agencies to deliver quick aid to the region, where the devastating wildfires are forecast to get bigger due to unfavored weather conditions.
Bush also planned to tour the fire-ravaged region Thursday to view the fire damage.
According to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's office, Bush agreed to pay a visit to Southern California when talking with the governor over the telephone.
Meanwhile, a local insurance information group said Tuesday the current wildfires raging throughout the region have resulted in 1,760 insurance claims, and estimated the total claims could reach 500 million dollars by the time the fires are extinguished.
Source: Xinhua
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