Viral Swing: California wildfires: San Francisco sky turns apocalyptic orange

Residents of San Francisco woke on Wednesday morning to an apocalyptic orange sky as smoke from catastrophic wildfires in California blanketed the air and choked the sun. Fires have ravaged the state in the past month, burning at least 2.5 million acres (1 million hectares) of land. A heatwave at the weekend provided perfect conditions for an eruption of new and dangerous blazes across the state. Three people were found dead on Wednesday evening in Butte County, where the North Complex fire – one of more than two dozen in California – has spread at a ferocious rate. The fire, in Northern California, has been burning for more than three weeks before high winds and soaring temperatures helped it surge back again this week, crossing about 25 miles (40 kilometres) of mountainous terrain to destroy scores of homes. Historically, California's fire season does not start until autumn.