The Latest: Trump: ‘Bad environmental laws’ worsen fires

CLEARLAKE, Calif. (AP) — The Latest on the wildfires raging in California (all times local):

4:40 p.m.

President Donald Trump tweeted Sunday that the wildfires hitting California are "being magnified & made so much worse by the bad environmental laws which aren't allowing massive amount of readily available water to be properly utilized." Trump said the water is being diverted into the Pacific Ocean.

The president also called for clearing trees to stop the fires from spreading.

The tweet came a day after Gov. Jerry Brown called on Trump to help the state deal with the deadly and destructive wildfire season.

Brown said he is hopeful Trump will issue a so-called Presidential Major Disaster Declaration for California. The declaration would help fire victims with unemployment assistance, food aid and legal and mental health counseling among other federal programs. The declaration will also make counties and cities eligible for federal financial assistance and help with repairing the billions of dollars of damage done to infrastructure.

More immediately, the declaration will enable federal agencies to help battle the 17 major fires burning throughout the state.

12:08 p.m.

A utility worker was killed near a Northern California wildfire as crews working in sweltering conditions battled multiple blazes, including twin fires that exploded in size and forced hundreds more to evacuate rural communities, officials said Sunday.

The Pacific Gas and Electric employee was fatally injured in a vehicle-related accident Saturday on the western edge of the Carr Fire in Shasta County, said utility spokeswoman Melissa Subbotin. Jairus Ayeta, who was in his 20s, worked as an apprentice lineman and was part of a PG&E crew working in "dangerous terrain" to restore power, she said.

Ayeta is the seventh person to die in the immense blaze that has been burning for two weeks near Redding, where armies of firefighters and fleets of aircraft continue battling the flames about 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of the Oregon state line. Two firefighters and four residents, including two children, were also killed. The fire was more than 40 percent contained Sunday.

Meanwhile to the south, new evacuations were ordered Saturday evening near twin fires burning in Mendocino and Lake counties across wilderness on both sides of Clear Lake. Dry, hot winds fueled both blazes, which have collectively charred nearly 400 square miles (1,036 square kilometers) of brush and timber. The entire so-called Mendocino Complex Fire is now one of the largest on record in the state, officials said.