Biden approves California disaster declaration ahead of Sacramento visit

U.S. President Joe Biden has approved a disaster declaration for California and will travel to Sacramento on Monday to survey the damage from recent wildfires, the White House said on Sunday.

More than 6,800 wildfires large and small have blackened an estimated 1.7 million acres (689,000 hectares) within California alone this season, stretching available firefighting forces and equipment dangerously thin. The blazes have been stoked by extremely hot, dry conditions that experts say are symptomatic of climate change during a summer fire season shaping up as one of the most destructive on record.