Tag: wildfires

California’s raging wildfires cause another death

CLEARLAKE, Oakland (AFP) — California’s deadly Carr wildfire — now the state’s sixth most destructive — has claimed another life with a power linesman killed on the job its seventh fatality, officials said Sunday. The Carr Fire, located some 200 miles (322 kilometers) north of San Francisco, is still growing, CalFire said Sunday. Its intensity was so great at one point, that it generated a tornado-like whirl of fire — as well as its own […]

Firefighters battle major wildfires in California

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP)–More than 2,000 firefighters battled a massive wildfire in California on Tuesday as authorities warned that record-breaking heat expected by the weekend could spark more blazes. The so-called County Fire in the northern part of the state had scorched 70,000 acres (28,327 hectares) in Napa and Yolo Counties by Tuesday and was just five percent contained, fire officials said. Authorities late Monday had warned residents in several counties to be ready […]

Returning winds churn up heightened alert in fire-hit California

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — After a couple of days of respite heavy winds are expected to return Wednesday to the California area plagued by a massive fire, potentially hindering the efforts of firefighters battling in an already dry climate. The fire has already destroyed at least 272,000 acres (110,000 hectares) — nearly the size of the city of Los Angeles — and is just 55 percent contained since it began December 4, according […]

Firefighters on top of wildfire in LA’s luxury Bel Air

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Firefighters in Los Angeles said Wednesday they were nearing full containment of a week-old fire caused by “an illegal cooking fire” at a homeless encampment. The blaze, which is 90 percent under control, has scorched 422 acres (170 hectares) since it broke out in the early hours of December 6, destroying six homes in the upscale Bel Air area and damaging 12 others. “We were not aware that there […]

Over 6,000 firefighters battling southern California blaze

by Veronique Dupont Agence France Presse LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Thousands of firefighters were battling one of the most destructive wildfires in California’s history Monday as it crept relentlessly up the Pacific coast and forced new evacuations. As a wildfire near Los Angeles was brought under control, fire crews were being redeployed to battle the Thomas Fire northwest of America’s second-largest city. Fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters were assisting nearly 6,400 firefighters trying to […]

Winds whip California fires as they spread south

by Veronique DUPONT / Robyn Beck Agence France-Presse BONSALL, United States (AFP) — Thousands of firefighters battled raging wildfires in California on Saturday that have forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee the Los Angeles area, as well as outbreaks closer to San Diego. Nearly 700 structures including multi-million dollar mansions have been destroyed by wildfires raging on six different fronts, but despite the intensity of the blazes, authorities have reported only one fatality. […]

Wildfires rage across southern California; first death reported

by Veronique Dupont Agence France Presse LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Firefighters on Thursday battled raging wildfires across southern California that have forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes, including residents on the outskirts of Los Angeles, America’s second-largest city. Winds with hurricane-force gusts of up to 80 miles per hour (130 kilometers per hour) fueled the blazes, creating apocalyptic scenes of hillsides engulfed in billowing smoke and towering plumes of […]

New blaze ignites near LA as fierce California wildfires rage

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — An inferno engulfed the Los Angeles region Wednesday, forcing more than 200,000 people to evacuate and threatening thousands of homes, including the luxe Bel-Air neighborhood dotted with mansions. The flames have swallowed some 80,000 acres (32,000 hectares) in just over a day since the “Thomas” fire, currently the state’s largest, broke out, leaving at least one dead in an area about 45 minutes from downtown LA. High winds caused another wave […]

California struck once more by devastating infernos

  by Javier Tovar Agence France Presse SANTA PAULA, United States (AFP) — More than a thousand firefighters were struggling to contain a wind-whipped brush fire in southern California on Tuesday that has left at least one person dead, sent thousands fleeing, and was choking the area with thick black smoke. The Ventura County Fire Department said more than 27,000 people had been told to evacuate as the fast-moving fire in the coastal county north […]

30 killed as wildfires rage in Portugal and Spain

by Thomas Cabral Agence France Presse LISBON, Portugal (AFP) — At least 27 people have died in fires which have ravaged forests in northern and central Portugal over the past 24 hours, rescuers said Monday, as three people were killed in Spain in blazes sparked by arsonists and fanned by Hurricane Ophelia. In Portugal, Prime Minister Antonio Costa declared a state of emergency as more than 4,000 firefighters fought some 20 major fires still raging […]

Two dead in Spain wildfires

MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Wildfires whipped by strong wind gusts spawned by Hurricane Ophelia burned across northwestern Spain on Sunday, leaving two people dead, officials said. Fifteen separate wildfires which posed a risk to built up areas were raging across the region of Galicia, the head of the regional government, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, said. The flames were being fanned by wind gusts of up to 90 kilometers (55 miles) per hour whipped as Hurricane Ophelia […]

Look: Wildfires turn sky yellow over Disneyland

ANAHEIM, California (Reuters) — Smoke and flames turned the skies above Anaheim’s Disneyland yellow on Monday (October 9), as a wildfire continued to rage across California. In Anaheim, a city south of Los Angeles and home to the first ever Disney theme park, whole subdivisions of luxury homes were engulfed in flames. On Tuesday (October 10), in southern California, the so-called Canyon Fire 2 has spread to 7,500 acres (3035 hectares) in Orange County, destroying 14 […]