California fire officials are warning residents to be extra vigilant as the state's fire season is off to an early, ferocious start.
More than 220,000 acres have already been consumed by wildfires. That's nearly 20 times more acres than what's typical by mid-July, and it's just the beginning of fire season.
Some 20 people have died in the state due to suspected high heat impacts, including a motorcyclist after traveling in Death Valley, where temperatures hit 128 degrees Fahrenheit.
State firefighters have already responded to more than 3,500 wildfires so far this year.
Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes and dozens of structures have been damaged or destroyed
Director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Joe Tyler warned at a press conference earlier this week: "We are not just in a fire season, we are in a fire year. Our winds and the recent heatwave have exacerbated the issue, consuming thousands of acres. So we need to be extra cautious."
Crews this week were battling several wildfires, including the 34,000-acre Lake fire in the mountains of Santa Barbara County, which prompted evacuation orders for some 200 homes.
California had more-than-usual welcome rains this past winter after a years-long drought. But the water triggered a bumper crop of grasses that have already dried out and are ready to burn in unusually high temperatures this summer.
"Climate change is real," California's Gov. Gavin Newsom said at the press conference Wednesday. "Those extremes are here present every day in the great state of California."
Donald Trump, presumptive Republican nominee for president, recently blew off the threat of soaring heat amid the extreme weather of climate change in the U.S. and around the world. "Basically, you have a little more beachfront property, okay?" he asked in an interview last month on Fox & Friends.
In fact, the rising waters of climate change flood beachfront areas.
June was the hottest month ever recorded on the planet, which also fuels the fires. It was the 13th hottest month in a row.
More than 63 million people in the US were under heat alerts Thursday. Las Vegas last Sunday recorded its highest temperature ever: 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
