A strong thunderstorm birthed a rare tornado on Friday evening near Paynes Creek in Tehama County, close to the Shasta County border in Northern California, according to meteorologists.

As firefighters tirelessly work to contain rapidly growing infernos that have torched over 29,000 acres of land in Southern California as of Thursday afternoon, there are several ways North Jersey residents can lend a hand.

The scourge of wildfires in Los Angeles and the surrounding area are the most destructive in the city’s history, and the city’s fire chief said the region was still in the midst of an “extreme weather event” as a new blaze quickly grew to 1,