Category Archives: Wildfires

California’s week of heat and wildfires foretell a punishing autumn

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The fall season traditionally brings the highest fire risk to the west, but experts are bracing for even more explosive blazes

It was an explosive Labor Day across California, as an intense, days-long heatwave smashed temperature records, spurred the spread of deadly and destructive wildfires, and bathed cities in a stifling heat even long after the sun went down.

The events mark a grueling start of what traditionally make up the highest fire-risk months in the west, with experts bracing for a higher potential of a punishing autumn even after a milder-than-expected summer.

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Fast-moving California wildfire poses threat to rural communities

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About 7,500 people in Weed and those nearby under evacuation orders as much of state faces brutal heatwave

A fast-moving wildfire in northern California is threatening rural communities near the Oregon border, injuring people and torching homes.

About 7,500 people in Weed and several nearby communities were under evacuation orders on Saturday as the flames raced through tinder-dry grass. Much of California is facing a brutal heatwave this weekend that’s likely to see some of the hottest weather of the year.

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Blazes erupt across California as state bakes in scorching heat

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Seven firefighters hospitalized, with extreme temperatures expected to last through Labor Day

Firefighters were battling blazes across California in grueling heat on Friday, as fast-moving flames erupted near the Oregon border and prompted evacuation orders for at least 5,000 people.

Residents of the towns of Weed, Lake Shasta and Edgewood in Siskiyou County were told to evacuate after a blaze, dubbed the Mill fire, began spreading in hot and windy conditions and grew to 500 acres in about an hour, the Siskiyou sheriff’s office said in a statement.

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At least 38 people killed as ‘tornado of fire’ rages in northern Algeria

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Hundreds forced to flee homes and at least 200 injured as firefighters battle string of blazes in El Tarf province

Algerian firefighters were on Thursday battling a string of blazes, fanned by drought and a blistering heatwave, that have killed at least 38 people and left destruction in their wake.

Deadly forest fires have become an annual scourge in the north African country, where the climate crisis is turning large areas into a tinderbox.

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Spain wildfires: up to 20 injured after passengers break out of train engulfed by flames

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Train driver was in process of reversing train out of danger when panicked passengers broke the windows to escape

As many as 20 passengers have suffered burns, three of them seriously, after they jumped from a train when it was engulfed by a forest fire near Castellón in north-east Spain.

The train, en route from Sagunto in the eastern province of Valencia, to Zaragoza, stopped while the driver, seeing that the fire meant it was too dangerous to proceed, was preparing to reverse the train.

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Wildfires in Europe burn area equivalent to one-fifth of Belgium

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Experts say drought and extreme high temperatures likely to make it a record year for destruction by fires

Across Europe, an area equivalent to one-fifth of Belgium has been ravaged by flames as successive searing heatwaves and a historic drought propel the continent towards what experts say is likely to be a record year for wildfire destruction.

According to data from the European Forest Fire Information System (Effis), 659,541 hectares (1.6m acres) of land burned across the continent between January and mid-August, the most at this time of year since records began in 2006.

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Thousands evacuated as smouldering French wildfire reignites

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High temperatures and drought in the wine-growing region of Gironde force partial closure of motorway

About 10,000 people have been evacuated to save them from wildfires in the Gironde region of south-west France after a massive blaze that destroyed more than 15,000 hectares (37,000 acres) of pine forest in July sparked up again and tore through woodland.

“The fire is rampant and has now spread to the Landes départment,” local authorities in the wine-growing départment said. The French government doubled the number of firefighters to 1,000 on Wednesday afternoon, supported by planes dropping water.

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Canadian province declares emergency amid worst wildfires in over 50 years

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Blazes have consumed vast tracts of forest in Newfoundland and Labrador and remain out of control

Officials in Canada’s easternmost province have issued a state of emergency as crews battle the worst wildfires the region has experienced in more than half a century.

Sprawling blazes have consumed thousands of hectares of forest in Newfoundland and Labrador over the last two weeks and remain out of control.

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Homes destroyed as Washington state wildfire forces evacuation of town

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Fourteen structures burnt in Lind, in east of state, as forecasters in California warn ‘sleeping giant’ McKinney fire could grow further

A small town in Washington state was evacuated due to a fast-moving fire that burned a half-dozen homes, as crews in California made progress against the state’s deadliest and largest wildfire of the year.

In Washington, the Adams county sheriff’s office warned residents of Lind on Thursday afternoon to flee due to the encroaching flames.

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California hamlet reduced to ashes as wildfire rages on

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Several thousand people are under evacuation orders and at least four bodies have been found due to the McKinney fire

A huge wildfire raging in northern California continues to burn out of control as residents of a scenic river town razed by the fire return to scenes of destruction.

In the hamlet of Klamath River, home to about 200 people, most homes and businesses have turned to ash. Several thousand people in the region remain under evacuation orders, and at least four have been killed.

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Man trying to burn spider with lighter sparked Utah wildfire, police say

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Cory Martin, 26, arrested on suspicion of reckless burn and drug possession after telling police he tried to set fire to spider

A Utah man has been arrested on suspicion of starting a wildfire while trying to burn a spider with his lighter.

Cory Martin, 26, told police that he spotted the spider on Monday while he was in a hiking area in the foothills south of Salt Lake City near the city of Springville. He acknowledged starting the fire, but did not explain why he was trying to burn the spider.

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Death toll rises to four in California’s biggest wildfire this year

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McKinney fire has burned more than 100 buildings in north of state as other blazes ignite in US west

The death toll from an explosive wildfire raging in northern California has risen to four, after two more bodies were found within the burn zone in the remote Klamath national forest.

Search teams discovered two bodies on Monday at separate residences along State Route 96, one of the only roads in and out of the region near the state line with Oregon, the Siskiyou county sheriff’s office said in a statement.

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Two bodies found in burned vehicle in path of raging California wildfire

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Bodies discovered in north-west near Oregon border as McKinney fire, which exploded in size over the weekend, turns deadly

Two people were found dead in the path of the a wildfire raging across northern California, as firefighters raced to contain the blaze amid searing temperatures and impending thunderstorms.

The McKinney fire in northern California, which has grown into California’s largest this year, is one of several large fires burning across the US west and one of several concurrent extreme weather events battering the region.

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McKinney fire grows into California’s largest this year as thunderstorms fuel concerns

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Huge blaze burns out of control as crews also battling fires in Montana, Idaho, Hawaii and Texas

A wildfire in California grew to the largest the state has seen yet this year, as firefighting crews braced for thunderstorms and hot, windy conditions.

The McKinney Fire was burning out of control in northern California’s Klamath national forest, near the Oregon border, with expected thunderstorms a big concern, said US Forest Service spokesperson Adrienne Freeman.

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Evacuations ordered in northern California after new wildfire breaks out

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McKinney fire has grown to 18,000 acres in less than 12 hours and has zero containment amid searing heat, drought and lightning

Evacuations have been ordered around Klamath national forest in northern California after a major new wildfire broke out amid searing heat, a prolonged drought and lightning across the region.

The fire, known as the McKinney fire, has grown to 18,000 acres in less than 12 hours and has zero containment. It has forced officials in Siskiyou county to order the evacuation of nearby communities, a virtual repeat of the Washburn and Oak fires that have recently ignited in California’s western Sierra Nevada.

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Adrenaline-seeking firefighter started French wildfires, say prosecutors

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Unnamed man in his 30s with ‘a need for social recognition’ faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted

A firefighter from the south of France is responsible for a series of wildfires in the region which he started in a quest for adrenaline, French authorities have said.

The man, a volunteer firefighter from the Herault region, was arrested on Wednesday, regional prosecutors said.

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‘Parks are wild by nature’: Yosemite visitors undeterred by raging forest fires

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Picnics, treks, camping and swimming continue despite hazardous air quality and ash in national park

Yosemite national park’s dramatic vistas were shrouded by a thick grey haze on Monday afternoon, as smoke from the fiercely burning Oak fire hung over its granite peaks. Along the road winding toward the valley, skeletal trees told the story of the Washburn fire that tore through just weeks earlier.

The blazes – the two largest to ignite in California so far this year – have besieged Yosemite during one of its busiest months, causing entrance closures, cancellations, and cloaking the landmark in hazardous air.

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California fire crews make progress against ferocious Oak fire near Yosemite

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Fire burning near famous national park exploded in size over weekend but crews achieved 10% containment Monday morning

Firefighters made progress against a ferocious wildfire in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada that forced thousands of residents from their homes in the gateway to Yosemite national park.

The Oak fire started on Friday near the town of Midpines, California, and exploded in size over the weekend.

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Oak fire remains uncontained as Al Gore warns ‘civilization at stake’

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Blaze exploded on Friday and quickly grew to 11,900 acres in size as Gavin Newsom declares state of emergency for Yosemite area

The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, declared a state of emergency for an area close to Yosemite national park, mobilizing thousands to tackle a wildfire that exploded on Friday, grew to more than 15,600 acres and on Sunday remained entirely uncontained.

Discussing the ferocity and fast-growing nature of the blaze, the former vice-president Al Gore, long a campaigner for action on the climate crisis, warned: “The survival of our civilization is at stake.”

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Reforestation company ‘devastated’ after causing wildfire in Spain

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Blaze, estimated to have damaged 14,000 hectares, started after spark escaped from soil excavator

An international reforestation company has said it is “devastated” after one of its contractors accidentally caused a massive fire in Spain, where dozens of calamitous wildfires have raged this week.

Land Life, a Netherlands-based company with offices in Spain and the US, said the fire broke out on Monday at one of its reforestation projects in Ateca in the north-eastern region of Aragón.

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