Category Archives: Wildfires

Bushfires force evacuations in Victoria’s west as wild weather menaces Australia’s south-east

Posted on by

Firefighters battle two out-of-control blazes as other communities brace for winds, storms and possible flash flooding

Two out-of-control bushfires in Victoria have forced townships to evacuate and destroyed at least one home as parts of Australia’s east remain on alert for fires while being hit with wild winds and storms.

Firefighters were on Sunday working to contain the fires in Victoria’s west, with flash flooding and heavy rainfall possible in the state’s north-east, south-east New South Wales and north-east Tasmania.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

New York state parks employee dies while battling wildfires

Posted on by

Dariel Vasquez died when tree fell on him as he battled major brush fire along the New York-New Jersey border

A New York parks employee died battling one of a number of wildfires in New Jersey and New York amid dry conditions that have prompted air quality warnings in both states, authorities said on Sunday.

The Eastern Dutchess county fire and rescue said the New York state forestry service reported that the worker died when a tree fell on him Saturday afternoon as he battled a major brush fire along the New York-New Jersey border, officials said.

Continue reading...

‘Devastating’: California fire victims return to sift through rubble of homes

Posted on by

Ten people have been injured so far by the Mountain fire, which was 17% contained by Saturday morning

As firefighting crews continued to battle the Mountain fire on Saturday, some residents were allowed to return to areas destroyed by the blaze to sift through the destruction to their homes.

As of 7am Pacific time on Saturday, the fire had been 17% contained, according to Cal Fire, the state’s wildfire-fighting agency.

Continue reading...

Wind-driven wildfire rages in California with scores of homes charred

Posted on by

Mountain fire in Ventura county still at 0% containment, with footage showing smoldering structures

A wind-driven wildfire roared through rural and residential communities north-west of Los Angeles, charring more than 19,600 acres and leveling scores of homes.

The Mountain fire in Ventura county, California, continued to burn on Thursday morning, as footage showed dozens of structures turned to smoldering ruins now lining the streets where neighborhoods once stood.

Continue reading...

Heatwave sweeps across large parts of Australia as bushfire threatens Queensland border town

Posted on by

Weather warnings across multiple states on Wednesday as Dirranbandi residents told to evacuate

A heat warning is in place for large parts of Queensland on Wednesday with temperatures hitting 40C in parts of the state.

The Bureau of Meteorology issued a heatwave warning for much of the state, forecasting severe conditions around north-west and inland areas.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Hundreds evacuated in Oakland after California brush fire grows out of control

Posted on by

Residents told to flee as firefighters battle blaze, with two homes burned and several others damaged

A fast-moving fire fed by strong winds burned two homes on Friday and damaged several others in a hillside neighborhood in the city of Oakland, where roughly 500 people were ordered to evacuate, officials said.

Damon Covington, the city’s fire chief, said that at about 1.30pm, calls had come in reporting a fire in front of a home in the Oakland hills. Crews arrived as the inferno quickly grew with winds ranging from calm breezes to 40mph (64km/h) gusts during red-flag conditions.

Continue reading...

Potentially lifesaving Blue Mountains fire trails obstructed as bushfire season begins

Posted on by

Exclusive: Residents who fought the black summer bushfires are concerned access tracks are not being maintained

Residents of a Blue Mountains town who were forced to defend themselves against an out-of-control backburn during the black summer bushfires are concerned fire trails in the area are not being maintained ahead of the fire season.

Guardian Australia has seen photographs of fallen trees obstructing two fire trails in Bilpin near the Tutti Fruitti cafe and surrounding homes, which were destroyed when the Rural Fire Service lost control of the backburn it lit near Mount Wilson in December 2019.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Hellish heat and primal fear: Croatian firefighters on frontline of climate crisis

Posted on by

Firefighters are stoic about the risks they face but say climate change has affected every part of the job

A short drive and a world away from the tourist-thronged old town of Split, past retirees clambering out of cruise ships and stag parties stumbling into beachside bars, Ivan Sanader studied a smouldering hillside that stank of smoke.

The night before, he had fought a fire that charred the slope and threatened to engulf a roadside restaurant. Now, the commander of a mobile firefighter centre in Croatia was issuing orders to stop it flaring back up.

Continue reading...

‘Absolute chaos’: counting the cost of a deadly wildfire in northern Portugal

Posted on by

Residents of Albergaria-a-Velha tell of the fear and losses brought by a blaze that evoked memories of 2017 disaster

The fires are out in Albergaria-a-Velha now, their embers washed away by the heavy rain. But their reek still carries on the damp air, rising from the sooty earth, the scorched tree trunks, the burnt-out cars and houses, and the puddles of black and acrid water.

If the numbers offer a glimpse of the toll that last week’s wildfires took on this northern Portuguese municipality – four people dead, at least seven injured, 25,269 hectares burned and 81 homes damaged – they cannot convey the sense of fear and loss that the 26-metre-high flames brought with them.

Continue reading...

Weather tracker: Extensive flooding in Japan after ‘unprecedented’ rainfall

Posted on by

One dead and several missing as ‘life-threatening situation’ declared in earthquake-hit Ishikawa prefecture

Heavy rain caused extensive flooding in central Japan over the weekend, with at least one person reported dead and several more unaccounted for.

Officials said “unprecedented” rainfall generated floods and landslides in Ishikawa prefecture, where a powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake on New Year’s Day killed more than 200 people. The Japan meteorological agency issued its highest-level warning for Ishikawa, advising of a “life-threatening situation”.

Continue reading...

‘It’s guerrilla warfare’: Brazil fire teams fight Amazon blazes – and the arsonists who start them

Posted on by

Firefighters and police in Rondônia battle fires intensified by both the climate crisis and a criminal assault on the rainforest

The occupants of the vinyl-coated military tents at this remote jungle camp in Brazil’s wild west compare the hellscape surrounding them to catastrophes old and new: the extinction of the dinosaurs, the bombardment of Gaza, the obliteration of Hiroshima during the second world war.

“It’s as if a nuclear bomb has gone off. There’s no forest. There’s nothing. Everything’s burned. It’s chaos,” said Lt Col Victor Paulo Rodrigues de Souza as he gave a tour of the base on the frontline of Brazil’s fight against one of its worst burning seasons in years and a relentless assault on the greatest tropical rainforest on Earth.

Continue reading...

Portugal wildfire deaths rise to seven after firefighters trapped in blaze

Posted on by

More than 50 people injured as 54 fires burn across country amid hot, dry and windy weather

Seven people have been killed and more than 50 injured in wildfires ravaging central and northern Portugal, authorities have said, after three firefighters died on Tuesday when their vehicle was trapped in flames.

Portugal’s civil protection service said 54 wildfires were burning nationwide, mainly in the north, with 5,300 firefighters mobilised. France, Greece, Italy and Spain sent eight water-bombing planes through the EU’s mutual assistance mechanism.

Continue reading...

Mother of man accused in California wildfire says ‘he did not light that fire’

Posted on by

Arson charges filed against Justin Wayne Halstenberg in San Bernardino county, which has burned 38,000 acres

The mother of the 34-year-old man accused of starting the Line fire in southern California – which has scorched at least 38,000 acres (15,378 hectares) and destroyed one home – has spoken out in defense of her son, telling the Los Angeles Times on Thursday that “he did not light that fire”.

Arson-related charges have been filed against Justin Wayne Halstenberg, who is accused of starting the San Bernardino county blaze on 5 September. He is due to be arraigned on Monday according to the San Bernardino county district attorney’s office.

Continue reading...

Los Angeles hit by double whammy of wildfires and earthquake

Posted on by

Residents were rattled by a 4.7 magnitude quake while firefighters are trying to put out blazes east of the city

Millions of residents in the Los Angeles area were rattled by a 4.7 magnitude earthquake that hit early on Thursday morning and came as the region continues to battle multiple wildfires that yet to be brought under control.

The quake’s epicenter was 4 miles north of Malibu, according to the US Geological Survey. The tremor unleashed boulders on to a Malibu road, visibly shook Santa Monica’s historic 1909 wooden pier and jolted people from bed. No injuries or damages were immediately reported.

Continue reading...

Thirteen people including firefighters injured in ‘hellish’ California wildfires

Posted on by

Several blazes ravage state after record-breaking heatwave last week with temperatures topping 100F

As least 13 people have been injured in three major southern California wildfires that broke out this week during a scorching heatwave. Firefighters battling the blazes, already stretched to the limits by a challenging summer, were among the injured.

The Bridge fire in the Angeles national forest, located north of Glendora, exploded from about 4,000 acres (1,600 hectares) on Tuesday to 34,000 acres that evening, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Continue reading...

Brazilian president flies into Amazon amid alarm over droughts and wildfires

Posted on by

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva says Amazonia suffering its worst drought in more than 40 years

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has flown into the Amazon amid growing alarm over the droughts and wildfires sweeping the rainforest region and others parts of Brazil.

Speaking during a visit to a riverside community near the city of Tefé, the Brazilian president said Amazonia was suffering its worst drought in more than 40 years. He said he had come to discover “what is going on with these mighty rivers” that in some places now resemble deserts.

Continue reading...

Fast-spreading wildfire east of LA forces thousands to flee amid fierce heatwave

Posted on by

California’s Line fire, only 3% contained, has charred more than 21,000 acres as temperatures soar into triple digits

Thousands of people east of Los Angeles have been ordered to flee their homes from an out-of-control wildfire that has burned through a large area of forest.

In southern California, currently in the grip of a ferocious heatwave, the so-called Line fire has burned areas around San Bernardino national forest, about 65 miles (105km) east of Los Angeles.

Continue reading...

Weather tracker: extreme heat hits Brazil, fuelling risk of wildfires

Posted on by

Some African countries, meanwhile, hit by unusual rainfall with flooding killing at least 170 people

Unrelenting heat will continue across parts of Brazil this week with temperatures about 5C to 10C above the 1991 to 2020 average.

Daytime temperatures will reach 35C to 40C in parts of the Central West region, affecting cities such as Belo Horizonte, Brasília and Manaus. This extreme heat is likely to continue into next week, with temperatures above 40C possible in places.

Continue reading...

Canada’s 2023 wildfires released more greenhouse gases than most countries

Posted on by

Had fires been ranked alongside countries they would have been world’s fourth-largest emitter, study finds

Wildfires that swept Canada’s woodlands last year released more greenhouse gases than some of the largest emitting countries, a study found on Wednesday, calling into question national emissions budgets that rely on forests as carbon stores.

At 647 megatonnes, the carbon released in last year’s wildfires exceeded those of seven of the 10 largest national emitters in 2022, including Germany, Japan and Russia, the study published in the journal Nature found.

Continue reading...

Brazil minister declares ‘war’ with fire as smoke cloaks Brasília and São Paulo

Posted on by

Environment minister suggests criminal actions behind spike in wildfires closing schools and grounding flights

Brazil’s environment minister has declared her country “at war” with fire after a historic surge in blazes – from the depths of the Amazon to the rural south-east – cloaked Brasília and São Paulo with smoke, grounded flights and forced schools to close.

Speaking after an emergency meeting with the president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, on Sunday, Marina Silva called the sudden spike in wildfires in São Paulo state’s countryside “unusual” and said federal police were investigating the causes. Three people have been arrested.

Continue reading...