California Wildfire: 31 Deaths Recorded

Officials have disclosed that 31 deaths have been recorded from the wildfires sweeping California with more than 200 people still missing.

That fire now equals the deadliest on record in California – the 1933 Griffith Park disaster in Los Angeles.

In the south, the Woolsey Fire has claimed two lives as it damaged beach resorts including Malibu. Six more people were confirmed killed in the Camp Fire in the north of the state, taking the toll there to 29.

BBC reports that an estimated 250,000 people have been forced to flee their homes to avoid three major blazes in the state.

With strengthening winds threatening to spread the flames, California Governor Jerry Brown has urged President Donald Trump to declare a major disaster, a move that would harness more federal emergency funds.

The appeal came a day after Mr Trump threatened to cut funding for California, blaming the fires on poor forest management.

Harold Schaitberger, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, called the president’s comments “reckless and insulting”.