No fewer than 23 people have been killed and 500 reported missing in wildfires in California, USA, according to agency reports. Los Angeles Times reported Thursday October 12, 2017 the firestorms currently raging through Northern California are unprecedented, though the region is accustomed to big deadly fires. It said one of the peculiarities of the disaster is that it’s not just one fire but close to two dozen fires threatening hard-to-reach rural areas after tearing through suburban neighbourhoods. Other sources said more than 3,500 homes; commercial buildings and other structures have been razed as the fires scorched 170,000 acres. By Thursday, fire officials believed some of the individual fires may meet and merge into one mega-fire.

G

tate’s trees or left them vulnerable to insect infestations- effects of climate change. CNN said sleep-deprived, soot-covered fire-fighters are working to contain the wildfires, even as some of their own homes have been devastated.