CA Wildfires Latest: 2.4M Acres Burned, Arson Arrest Made, Strong Winds Ahead

CALIFORNIA — Fire officials suspect that the destructive wildfire raging in Northern California was an act of arson. The Fawn fire is the latest blaze to send Californians fleeing from their homes, but it was just one of 11 massive fires that crews were working to quell on Monday.

Firefighters made some progress on that fire, burning in Shasta County, on Sunday, gaining 50 percent containment on the 8,559-acre fire. A Palo Alto woman was arrested on suspicion of starting the blaze.

Alexandra Souverneva, 30, was charged Friday with felony arson to wildland with an enhancement because of a declared state of emergency in California, Shasta County District Attorney Stephanie Bridgett said.

She was seen trespassing in the area where the fire broke out — near Fawndale Road north of Mountain Gate — Wednesday afternoon and "acting irrationally," according to Cal Fire. At around 8 p.m., she walked out of the brush near the fire line and approached firefighters who were fighting the fire, telling them she was dehydrated and needed medical treatment, Cal Fire said.

Cal Fire law enforcement officers suspected that Souverneva was responsible for starting the fire after interviewing her.

Meanwhile, some 10,400 firefighters remained on the front lines of a near dozen major fires on Monday, Cal Fire reported. On Sunday, crews responded to and were able to quell 27 fires that cropped up across the state, according to the agency.

California's largest fires sent smoke over parts of central and Southern California over the weekend as plumes traveled from massive fires burning there.

READ MORE: Palo Alto Woman Suspected Of Starting Fast-Spreading Fawn Fire

Erratic weather in California continues to drive this year's fire siege.

"As Fall season begins, it is important to remember that some of the largest and most destructive wildfires occur during this time of year," Cal Fire officials wrote in a statement.

A Red Flag Warning was in effect through Tuesday morning amid gusty winds and low humidity for the Northern Sierra Nevada Mountains through the Lake Tahoe region, where gusts of 50 mph were possible, Cal Fire reported.

In Southern California, scattered rain and thunderstorms hit Los Angeles this weekend. On Monday, westerly winds of 20 to 40 mph and gusts up to 60 mph expected through Tuesday evening. Temperatures were expected to remain cooler this week and well below normal through Tuesday.

Historic drought tied to climate change is making wildfires harder to fight. It has killed millions of trees in California alone. Scientists say climate change has made the West much warmer and drier in the past 30 years and will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive.

Some 7,713 wildfires in California this year have damaged or destroyed more than 3,000 homes and other buildings and torched well over 2.4 million acres since the beginning of the year. In comparison, to the same time last year, there were 8,437 wildfires, which burned more than 3.6 million acres.

Here's an interactive map from Cal Fire of all fires burning in the state. Click for more.

See Cal Fire's chart of all major fires burning across the Golden State on Monday.