A wildfire, which started in a forest close to the town of Paradise in California, has engulfed the region in an uncontrollable blaze.

The death toll, at time of writing, is 31, with 200 people unaccounted for.

With strengthening winds set to exacerbate the flames, California governor Jerry Brown has urged President Donald Trump to declare a major disaster, a move that would make more federal emergency funds available.

BBC reports that emergency teams have been sifting through the remains of more than 6 700 homes and businesses burned down in the gutted town of Paradise.

The mayor of Paradise, Jody Jones, gave the following update about the state of Paradise:

“Most of the residential [area] is gone. I would say 90%,” she said. “I had an opportunity to go up there and take a look for myself. Just about everyone I know lost their home.”

The fire is the most destructive in the state’s history and the joint deadliest.

It has burned more than 109,000 acres (44,000 hectares) and is nearly 25% contained, fire officials said.

Some looting was reported over the weekend and the police have made a few arrests. Amongst the damaged homes were a few luxury houses, including one belonging to actor Gerard Butler, who shared a photo of the damage on Twitter:

Returned to my house in Malibu after evacuating. Heartbreaking time across California. Inspired as ever by the courage, spirit and sacrifice of firefighters. Thank you @LAFD. If you can, support these brave men and women at https://t.co/ei7c7F7cZx. pic.twitter.com/AcBcLtKmDU

— Gerard Butler (@GerardButler) November 11, 2018

Kim Kardashian dedicated her E! People’s Choice Award to the firefighters – which is a nice gesture, but not very helpful.

You can see terrifying footage of a family trying to escape the blaze here:

So far Trump has once again proved that he is incapable of doing both the job of president and the job of ‘decent human being’ by tweeting responses like this:

On Sunday, during a trip to France, he tweeted: “With proper Forest Management, we can stop the devastation constantly going on in California. Get Smart!”

He has previously blamed Californian officials for wildfires and threatened to withhold federal funding.

So he’s in top form, then – getting it wrong whilst people have their lives torn apart.

On Saturday, firefighters used a respite from strong winds to drop fire retardant in a bid to strengthen firebreaks:

The current fires can be attributed to climate change and transient weather conditions.

Meanwhile, these fires are set to get worse before they get better, unless California receives the emergency aid that it needs.

[source:bbc]