Chilean President Gabriel Boric declared a state of catastrophe in two southern regions on Sunday, as raging wildfires forced more than 50,000 people to evacuate and killed at least 18 people. According to Chile's forestry agency CONAF, firefighters were battling 24 active fires across the country as of Sunday morning, with the largest in the regions of Nuble and Biobio, where the government declared the emergency.
County CEO and Director of Emergency Services Ryan Alsop signed the proclamation Sunday, citing danger to rural areas including unincorporated parts of Calistoga, Pope Valley, Aetna Springs and Angwin, according to a county news release. The declaration, which still requires approval from Gov. Gavin Newsom, allows the county to tap state and federal resources for emergency response, recovery, damage mitigation and reimbursement for extra costs due to the wildfire.
Starting on Saturday June 21, nearly 20 extreme-weather records were broken in a single day, including in Mitchell, SD, which broke its daily high when temperatures climbed to 104 degrees.