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Governor calls California fires the biggest natural disaster in the U.S.

Governor Newsom: California fires will be the largest natural disaster in U.S. history
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Photo: REUTERS/David Swanson
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The fires in California will become the largest natural disaster in the history of the United States. This was stated by California Governor Gavin Newsom on January 12 in the program "Meet the Press" on NBC News.

Asked if the disaster would become one of the worst in the country's history he allowed for that possibility.

"I think it would just depend on the costs associated with it, the scale and the reach," Newsom said.

He also said about 7,000 structures were lost due to a number of dried-up fire hydrants in the first few hours of fighting the Los Angeles fire.

"Was it just an overflow? Did you have so much used that we flushed it? Was it pipes? Was it electricity? Was it a combination of pipes, electricity and pumps? It was impossible because you lost seven-plus thousand structures right there anyway," News commented.

Earlier in the same day, the Bloomberg agency said that a broken wire could have led to the fire in the US state of California. The material notes that the wire was found on the tower associated with the power line Eagle Rock Sylmar. That tower is owned by Edison International.

Numerous wildfires in Los Angeles were reported on January 8. According to the latest reports, the death toll has risen to 16. Extinguishing continues, strong winds fuel the fire, rescue crews lack water. Due to the fires in the state declared a major disaster regime. The projected damage from the disaster will be about $52-57 billion. More than 12.3 thousand buildings were destroyed.

More than 1 thousand American prisoners were sent to extinguish the fire, which should contain the spread of the fire. Mexico also sent a group of firefighters to Los Angeles to fight the fire.

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