California hit by major wildfire: Madre Fire has ravaged nearly 283 square kilometers since Wednesday

A massive wildfire raging in California for two days has ravaged more than 28,300 hectares. More than 600 firefighters were still working to bring it under control on Saturday, July 5, as US President Donald Trump cut federal agencies tasked with combating climate disasters.

The Madre Fire broke out Wednesday in San Luis Obispo County, a rural region in the center of the state. About 200 people are under evacuation orders and several dozen buildings are threatened by the flames. "In the last 24 hours, 15 fires have broken out on federal lands, from Modoc to Klamath to Trinity," California Governor Gavin Newsom wrote on the X.

More than the potential damage, it's the speed at which the fire has spread that is impressive: in 24 hours, it has ravaged nearly 283 square kilometers, according to the latest bulletin from the Cal Fire agency . Images from the state's alert system show thick columns of black smoke towering over the hills of the rolling region.

This is the largest fire in California this year. "The state will always be there to protect all communities, no matter where a fire breaks out," said Gavin Newsom, announcing the dispatch of reinforcements.

The blaze comes after several other wildfires broke out in recent days, prompting evacuations in the area east of Los Angeles and raising fears of a difficult summer in California. The state is still reeling from the fires that ravaged the megacity and killed 30 people in January.

It's been an unseasonably dry winter and spring in Southern California, and vegetation is already parched as if it were midsummer, Daniel Swain, an extreme events specialist at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), noted recently in a blog post: "Given the forecast for even more intense and widespread heat in late summer, that month or two of advancement in vegetation dryness will have a big impact on burning conditions later in the season."

This heightened risk comes as Donald Trump implements significant budget cuts and layoffs at the Forest Service, the U.S. Meteorological and Oceanographic Administration, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

On Wednesday, Governor Newsom, a possible Democratic presidential candidate for 2028, accused the Republican president of not adequately funding brush clearing operations and controlled burning to prevent wildfires. “Trump needs to WAKE UP and start funding federal firefighters and land management crews in these rural communities – instead of giving tax breaks to billionaires ,” he wrote on X. “Trump’s incompetence is putting lives at risk.”