Harrowing images lay bare the devastation of wildfires blazing across California

Wildfires continue to tear through the American west.

More than two million acres of land have been burned in California due to wildfires blazing through the western American state, with a further 300,000 destroyed in Washington. Thousands have been evacuated as the fires tear through a number of states, with smoke covering huge swathes of the sky across the region. As many as 85 significant fires are believed to be burning across the region. The Guardian has reported that firefighters in Washington are seeing more acres burned in one day than they would usually fight in a single year. The wildfires, which have cast a blanket of smoke over much of the region in recent days, has led to evacuations in California, Washington, Idaho and Oregon. The fires come at a time of great tumult for Americans, who have been the country worst affected by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Data from ArcGIS shows the number of active wildfires currently burning through the west of the US.