Pope Francis prays for those affected by the fires in California

Pope Francis expressed his concern on Sunday for people suffering from the effects of the fires in California and South America.

"I would like to express my closeness to the populations affected by the fires that are ravaging so many regions of the planet, as well as to the volunteers and firefighters who risk their lives to put out the fires," Pope Francis said at the end of his speech at the Angelus on 11 October.

“I am thinking of the west coast of the United States, especially California… May the Lord support those who are suffering the consequences of these disasters,” he added.

A fire in Northern California has grown to be larger than the state of Rhode Island, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The August Complex Fire was formed when hundreds of individual fires merged together to create California's first gigafire.

A gigafire is a fire that has burned millions of acres of land. At least 31 people died in the California fires, and economists at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research believe that this year's California fires could cost at least $ 10 billion in damage.

The pope said he was also praying for those suffering from fires in the central regions of South America, in the Pantanal area, in Paraguay, on the banks of the Paraná River and in Argentina.