At least 200 people are missing after California's latest wildfire, which has claimed 31 lives so far.
The fire has now burned over 113,000 acres and incinerated more than 6700 homes and buildings.
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But even that staggering amount of damage falls short of the size of California's biggest wildfire ever recorded: the Mendocino Complex Fire.
The catastrophe ravaged the state over the US summer of 2018, consisting of two separate wildfires that came together to burn a combined total of 459,123 acres (1858 km sq), before both were finally contained after three months of devastation.
To put the Mendocino in context, a terrifying new interactive map transposes the size of the fire over Auckland to show just how huge the affected area was.
The interactive map, created by NBC, provides a sobering way for Kiwis to visualise a recent disaster on home terrain, and fully realise the extent of the devastation caused.
It reveals the majority of the greater Auckland area would be wiped out by flames. The inferno would extend from Papakura in the south to Kumeu in the north.
Much of the Waitākere Ranges would be burned away, while on the other side of the Manukau Harbour, the Awhitu Peninsula would be reduced to ashes.
Muriwai would escape the flames, as would Pukekohe and much of south Auckland. But it's bad news for the heart of the city, with the entire CBD and central suburbs doomed to incineration.
Auckland's been lucky enough never to have suffered an uncontrollable blaze like those in California.
The country's worst wildfire in recent history was the Port Hills fire of summer 2017 - but even that paled in comparison to most Californian fires.
New Zealand simply doesn't have the right combination of dry climate, high winds and vast expanses of underbrush to be threatened by wildfire in the same way California or Australia are.
Newshub.
