Donald Trump clashes with West Coast governors ahead of a visit to California where he will be briefed by Governor Gavin Newsom about the raging wildfires that have destroyed at least 3 million acres, enveloped cities in smog and killed at least 35 people

Governors in the West Coast states and President Donald Trump have clashed over the impact of climate change on wildfires ahead of his Monday visit to California.

Crews are battling fires that have killed at least 33 people, destroyed neighborhoods and enveloped the West Coast in smoke.

The historic wildfires in California, Oregon and Washington state have burned faster and farther than ever before.

The Democratic governors - including California's Gavin Newsom, Washington's Jay Inslee and Oregon's Kate Brown- say the fires are a consequence of climate change.

But the Trump administration has blamed poor forest management for the flames that have raced through the region and made the air in places like Portland, Oregon, Seattle and San Francisco some of the worst in the world.  

Numerous studies in recent years have linked bigger wildfires in the U.S. to global warming from the burning of coal, oil and gas. 

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California, Oregon and Washington state have seen historic wildfires that have burned faster and farther than ever before. Pictured: The Oak Park Motel was destroyed by the flames of the Beachie Creek Fire east of Salem, Oregon on Sunday

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Trump  has blamed poor forest management for the flames that have raced through the region 

Trump is headed to McClellan Park, a former air base just outside Sacramento, California, White House spokesman Judd Deere said.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom's office said he would be meeting with Trump.

The governors have been blunt: Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Sunday called climate change 'a blowtorch over our states in the West.'

'It is maddening right now that when we have this cosmic challenge to our communities, with the entire West Coast of the United States on fire, to have a president to deny that these are not just wildfires, these are climate fires,' Inslee said Sunday on ABC´s 'This Week.'

As Newsom toured a ghostlike landscape destroyed by flames Friday, he called out the 'ideological BS' of those who deny the danger.

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks to the media after he toured the North Complex Fire zone in Butte County on Friday and demanded action on climate change. He called out the 'ideological BS' of those who deny the danger

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Evacuees from the Riverside Fire stay in tents at the Milwaukie-Portland Elks Lodge on Sunday 

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Kristopher Smith holds his dog Tripp outside his tent at an evacuation center at the Milwaukie-Portland Elks Lodge, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020, in Oak Grove, Oregon

'The debate is over around climate change. Just come to the state of California, observe it with your own eyes,' he said.

He noted that just in the last month, California had its hottest August, with world-record-setting heat in Death Valley.

It had 14,000 dry lightning strikes that set off hundreds of fires, some that combined into creating five of the 10 largest fires in the state´s recorded history. And it had back-to-back heat waves.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said about 500,000 acres typically burn each year, but just in the past week, flames have swallowed over a million acres, pointing to long-term drought and recent wild weather swings in the state.

'This is truly the bellwether for climate change on the West Coast,' she said Sunday on CBS´ 'Face the Nation.' 'And this is a wake-up call for all of us that we have got to do everything in our power to tackle climate change.'

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Workers continue to repair the power system after flames from the Beachie Creek Fire burned through Fishermen's Bend Recreation Site east of Salem, Oregon on Sunday

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Shayanne Summers holds her dog Toph while wrapped in a blanket after several days of staying in a tent at an evacuation center at the Milwaukie-Portland Elks Lodge, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020, in Oak Grove, Oregon

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Beth Deleo holds her dog as Ben Quaempts loads donated items into their van at the Milwaukie-Portland Elks Lodge, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020, in Oak Grove, Ore. The two have been living in their van for the past several days after evacuating from Molalla, Oregon, which was threatened by the Riverside Fire

At a rally in Nevada, Trump blamed the way states have run the land, saying 'it is about forest management.' 

White House adviser Peter Navarro echoed that Sunday on CNN´s 'State of the Union,' saying that for many years in California, 'particularly because of budget cutbacks, there was no inclination to manage our forests.'

Forest management, which includes tree thinning and brush clearing, is costly, labor-intensive work that is effective in reducing fuel for wildfires. 

Millions of dollars are spent on such reduction efforts every year in Western states though many argue more needs to be done. The efforts can also be undercut when homeowners in rural areas don´t undertake similar efforts on their own properties.

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An aerial shot of the aftermath of the Almeda wildfire that swept through Talent, Oregon, pictured on Sunday

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Mill Creek Hotshots set a backfire to protect homes during the Bobcat Fire on September 13, 2020 in Arcadia, California

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A helicopter drops water to help extinguish the Bobcat Fire, in Arcadia, California

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A chicken wanders through charred remains from the Beachie Creek Fire near the destroyed Oregon Department of Forestry

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti accused Trump of perpetuating a lie that only forest management can curtail the massive fires seen in recent years. He pointed to drought and the need to reduce carbon emissions.

'Talk to a firefighter, if you think that climate change isn´t real,' the Democratic mayor said on CNN's 'State of the Union.'

It isn´t clear if global warming caused the dry, windy conditions that have fed the fires in the Pacific Northwest, but a warmer world can increase the likelihood of extreme events and contribute to their severity, said Greg Jones, a professor and research climatologist at Linfield University in McMinnville, Oregon.

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Oregon Governor Kate Brown toured the Oregon State Fairgrounds in Salem, Ore., Saturday afternoon, Sept. 12, 2020, where she spoke with volunteers and evacuees. Brown also toured the animal facility where evacuated animals are being kept. Fires along Oregon's Cascade Range grew Saturday, but at a slower rate than earlier in the week

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Boats are partially obscured by smoke from a wildfire at a marina on Detroit Lake burned by the Beachie Creek Fire, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2020, in Detroit, Oregon

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Shayanne Summers walks her her dog Toph at an evacuation center at the Milwaukie-Portland Elks Lodge, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020, in Oak Grove, Ore. 'It's nice enough here you could almost think of this as camping and forget everything else, almost,' said Summers about sleeping in a tent for the past several days at the center after evacuating from near Molalla, Oregon which was threatened by the Riverside Fire

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A sign advises to social distance at a marina building on Detroit Lake burned by the Beachie Creek Fire, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2020, in Detroit, Oregon

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George Coble carries a bucket of water to put out a tree still smoldering on his property destroyed by a wildfire Saturday, Sept. 12, 2020, in Mill City, Oregon

Warnings of low moisture and strong winds could fan the flames in hard-hit southern Oregon to Northern California and last through Tuesday. 

Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes as the fast-moving flames turned neighborhoods to nothing but charred rubble and burned-out cars.

At least 10 people have been killed in Oregon. Officials have said more people are missing, and the number of fatalities is likely to rise, though they have not said how high the toll could go as they search. In California, 24 people have died, and one person was killed in Washington state.

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Washington Governor Jay Inslee speaks during a press conference on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020, in Malden, Wash., while linemen repair a damaged power pole behind him. Inslee was visiting Malden to meet with first responders and community members after the town was damaged by a wildfire on Monday

Firefighter Steve McAdoo, who has run from one blaze to another in Oregon for six days, said his neighbors in rural areas outside Portland should clear trees near their homes because a week like they just survived could happen again.

'I would think the way the climate is changing, this may not be the last time,' he said.

In the small southern Oregon town of Talent, Dave Monroe came back to his burned home, partly hoping he´d find his three cats.

'We thought we´d get out of this summer with no fires,' he said. 'There is something going on, that´s for sure, man. Every summer we´re burning up.