Five New York Cities. That’s how much land wildfires have burned in California

Wildfires raging across California have burned more than 1.1 million acres, according to state fire officials. That’s an area the size of five New York Cities.

Tens of thousands of firefighters across California are battling more than 585 fires, many ignited by lightning, the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says.

Smoke from the blazes has covered the western United States and has reached as far away as Kansas, McClatchy News previously reported.

New York City, population 8.4 million, covers 308 square miles, or about 205,000 acres, according to The Physics Factbook.

That’s about one-fifth of the total acreage scorched by the latest round of wildfires in California.

On Friday, the fires had already burned an area larger than the state of Rhode Island, KABC reported.

Now the fires have burned an area larger than California’s 10 most-populous cities — Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Fresno, Sacramento, Long Beach, Oakland, Bakersfield and Anaheim — combined, The Sacramento Bee reported.

Two of the blazes, the LNU Lightning Complex fire at more than 350,000 acres and SCU Lightning Complex fire at more than 347,000 acres, are now the second and third largest fires in California history, according to the publication.

This story was originally published August 24, 2020 at 3:03 PM with the headline "Five New York Cities. That’s how much land wildfires have burned in California."