Wildfires have been blazing in California from August earlier this year since a heatwave and a tropical storm rolled over the state.

A fire which razed 7,000 acres in one part of the state was also cause by a "smoke generating pyrotechnic device" used during a gender reveal party gone wrong.

Gigafire

Now, a huge fire across several counties has spread to the extent that fire agency Cal Fire elevated the previous classification of "megafire", to the rarely-used "gigafire".

Megafires are those that have burned more than 100,000 acres.

The California fires though — which have been named the August Complex wildfire — have burned over 1.3 million acres of land, passing the threshold for a gigafire classification.

It is now the largest fire in the state's history.

At this size, it is nearly six times the land area of Singapore.

"California's #AugustComplexFire has burned over 1 million acres — by far the biggest fire in state history.

Fires have burned a record 4 million acres total statewide (an area bigger than Connecticut). Scientists blame lightning storms and dryness … pic.twitter.com/00ALwN5YDW"

— Muzamil (@promuzi) October 7, 2020

Gigafires are not common. The previous gigafire in the U.S. scorched 1.3 million acres in Alaska, while another earlier this year burned 1.5 million acres in New South Wales and Victoria in Australia, reported CNN.

Currently, the complex has been burning for 50 days, and only 54 per cent of it has been contained.

More intense than previous years

The August Complex first started after several lightning strikes sparked a series of small fires.

These fires then merged and morphed into the larger complex it is today.

Scientists however, have attributed the intensity of California's fire season this year to climate change.

The state saw the hottest-ever August on record, with temperatures on Aug. 16 at Death Valley reaching a high of 54.4ºC.

Academics have also stated that the fire season is lengthening.

Firefighting resources were also stretched thin, as efforts were focused on fires in more urban parts of the state, reported Los Angeles Times.

IAFF Local 2878 members from Snoqualmie, Eastside and Duvall Fire have now completed their 10th day at the August Complex Fire in California. Our Brothers continue to battle the fire that has now burned over one million acres. #EastsideProfessionalFirefighters #cawildfires pic.twitter.com/Mg0diRZmiN

— Eastside Firefighters (@IAFF2878) October 6, 2020

The state could see a brief respite though, as light to moderate showers have been forecasted for the coming week.

This however, does not mean the fire season is ending any time soon.

Meterologist Tom Bird said that "we will warm up, dry up again". "By no means are we looking to end the fire season with this event," The Guardian reported him saying.

Ultimately, experts hope that the fires will galvanise authorities to better manage forests.

Changes could also be made to policies to reduce the amount of vegetation build up in forests in order to prevent such fires from sparking and spreading as easily.

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Top photo from promuzi / Twitter