California authorities have declared that the Thomas wildfire, which has been raging for two weeks in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, is 45 percent contained.
The Thomas fire is poised to become the largest in state history as it has destroyed more than 700 homes and threatened multimillion-dollar mansions in the wealthy town of Montecito near Santa Barbara. More than 8,000 firefighters have been deployed, with costs surpassing $123 million, according to Cal Fire. Meanwhile, California utility giant Edison International has lost more than $3 billion in value as officials say they are probing the possible role the company’s power lines may have played in the fire.
(c) 2017, Bloomberg · Mark Chediak
{Matzav.com}
