Jaw-dropping aerial footage shows scale of California wildfires

Aerial footage shared by Cal Fire on Instagram shows the scale of the problem firefighters face in the state at the moment as the Chaparral Fire rages on a mountainside.

Fire crews have been able to get the better of some of the blazes recently – in particular, the Caldor Fire approaching Lake Tahoe – however, the hot and dry conditions forecast for the weekend may give the advantage back to the wildfires once more.

The Chaparral Fire, as seen above, was 80 per cent contained as of Wednesday (1 September).