The scale of Australia’s fires compared to map of United States gives frightening perspective

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — The comparison puts the hellish fires scorching Australia into perspective.

The Sonoma County Fire District juxtaposed a map of Australia’s fires with a map of the United States, revealing the massive scale of Australia’s numerous wildfires.

According to the side-by-side analysis, the same wildfires in the United States would result in dozens of states burning from coast to coast. Hundreds of cities, including Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix and Washington D.C., would be on fire.

The fatal wildfires sparked in September, burning over 12 million acres of land, scorching over 1,500 homes and killing over 20 people.

The New South Wales Rural Fire Service reported 146 fires burning across the state, with 65 uncontained as of Sunday, according to their Twitter post.

This story was originally published by Bayan Wang on KERO in Bakersfield, California.