Category Archives: Wildfires

Israel declares national emergency as wildfires force evacuations

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Witnesses tell of ‘walls of flame’ surging across woodland, while high winds disrupt Independence Day events

Wildfires continued to threaten swaths of forest and fields in Israel on Thursday, though firefighters successfully reopened the main road linking the country’s two principal cities.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, declared a national emergency after the fires broke out on Wednesday along the main Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway, prompting police to shut the route and evacuate thousands of people from nearby communities.

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Risk of ‘rapid fire spread’ remains in New Jersey as battle continues against blaze

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Crews still working to contain one the state’s largest ever wildfires, amid warm temperatures and dry conditions

With crews still working to contain one of New Jersey’s largest wildfires on record, fire danger remains elevated across the state and into eastern Pennsylvania, the National Weather Service warned on Friday.

“There is an increased risk for rapid fire spread this afternoon across portions of New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania,” the NWS said.

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New Jersey coastal pine reserve engulfed by fast-moving wildfire

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Blaze in Pine Barrens expected to grow before forecast rain as commercial building and some vehicles destroyed

A fast-moving wildfire engulfing part of New Jersey’s Pine Barrens has not resulted in any injuries, officials said on Wednesday, though it is expected to grow before forecast rain later this week.

The fire in southern New Jersey’s Lacey and Ocean townships has grown to more than 20 sq miles (52sq km) and could continue to burn for days, officials said. No one has been injured so far in the blaze, and 5,000 residents were evacuated but have been permitted to return home. A single commercial building and some vehicles were destroyed in the fire, while 12 structures remained threatened on Wednesday evening.

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New Jersey wildfire forces evacuations and reaches closed nuclear power plant

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Part of major highway closed as 3,000 people move to safety and officials say fire could become state’s largest in 20 years

A fast-moving wildfire burning in New Jersey forced thousands of people to temporarily evacuate on Tuesday, as officials warned the blaze could become the largest in the state in about 20 years.

Flames from the Jones Road wildfire in Ocean county sparked several small blazes near a decommissioned Oyster Creek nuclear power plant, state officials said.

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Deadly floods and storms affected more than 400,000 people in Europe in 2024

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European State of the Climate report ‘lays bare’ impact of fossil fuels on continent during its hottest 12 months on record

The home-wrecking storms and floods that swept Europe last year affected 413,000 people, a report has found, as fossil fuel pollution forced the continent to suffer through its hottest year on record.

Dramatic scenes of cars piled up on inundated streets and bridges being ripped away by raging torrents were seen around the continent in 2024, with “high” floods on 30% of the European river network and 12% crossing the “severe” flood threshold, according to the European State of the Climate report.

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UK set for warmest day yet this year as firefighters warn of more wildfires

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Temperature could hit 24C in central England on Friday with ‘very high to extreme’ risk of wildfires across Britain

The UK could experience its warmest day of the year so far, with temperatures higher than European holiday hotspots.

The Met Office said much of the country would be dry and sunny on Friday, and some of central England could hit 24C (75F) as weather “nearer to what we’d expect in July” continued.

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Wildfires rage on in North and South Carolina as more firefighters arrive

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Hundreds of people asked to leave their homes amid states of emergency and out-of-state responders battling blazes

Wildfires continued to rage in North and South Carolina on Thursday, leading to states of emergency and evacuations as firefighters deployed from other parts of the US to help bring the blazes under control.

In North Carolina, progress was being made in containing two of the largest wildfires burning in the mountains, but officials warned that fire danger remained from dry and windy conditions.

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South Korea wildfires become biggest on record as disaster chief points to ‘harsh reality’ of climate crisis

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Officials point to ultra-dry conditions as death toll reaches 27 and fires threaten Unesco heritage sites

Authorities in South Korea are battling wildfires that have doubled in size in a day in the country’s worst ever natural fire disaster.

At least 27 people have died and hundreds of buildings destroyed in the south-eastern province of North Gyeongsang, with the country’s disaster chief saying the fires had exposed the “harsh reality” of global heating.

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South Korea fires: 18 dead as acting president speaks of ‘unprecedented damage’

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A 1,300-year-old Buddhist temple is among buildings destroyed after dry and windy weather saw mostly contained blazes spread again

Wind-driven wildfires that were among South Korea’s worst ever are ravaging southern regions, killing 18 people, destroying more than 200 structures and forcing 27,000 people to evacuate, officials said on Wednesday.

Han Duck-soo, South Korea’s prime minister and acting president, said five days of fires had caused “unprecedented damage” and asked agencies tackling the disaster to “assume the worst-case scenario and respond accordingly”, according to Yonhap news agency.

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Three wildfires burn more than 3,300 acres in North and South Carolina

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South Carolina governor declares emergency as North Carolina announces mandatory evacuation in Polk county

Three major wildfires that broke out in one North Carolina county still recovering from Hurricane Helene have exploded to burn more than 3,000 acres combined as South Carolina’s governor declared an emergency in response to a growing wildfire in the Blue Ridge mountains.

The North Carolina department of public safety announced a mandatory evacuation starting at 8.20pm on Saturday for parts of Polk county in western North Carolina about 80 miles (129km) west of Charlotte.

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Monster storm system in US south kills at least 35 people

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Several people killed in Kansas dust storm while scattered tornadoes cause fatalities in Missouri

Violent tornadoes ripped through parts of the US, wiping out schools and toppling semitractor-trailers in several states, part of a monster storm that killed at least 35 people as more severe weather was expected.

In western Kansas, a dust storm was reported to have killed eight people as high winds produced blowing dust over the interstate, causing collisions of more than 71 vehicles on the I-70.

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‘Don’t underestimate cats’: Los Angeles feline uses up one of nine lives surviving wildfire

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Katherine Kiefer lost her home to the Palisades wildfire, but her crafty kitty, Aggie, somehow lived through the disaster

It appears the tall tale that all cats have nine lives may be true for a California Maine coon named Aggie.

The beloved feline was feared dead for two months after the Palisades wildfire in Los Angeles left her family’s home in ashes. But her owner, 82-year-old Katherine Kiefer, held out some hope.

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Crews continue to battle wind-driven brush fire on New York’s Long Island

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Three of the fires are contained, while one is still burning in Westhampton, officials say

Firefighters in New York were continuing to battle at least one brush fire in a wooded stretch of Long Island on Sunday with the wealthy coastal enclave of the Hamptons vulnerable and officials warning that high wind gusts threatened to ignite further blazes.

The state’s Democratic governor, Kathy Hochul, declared a state of emergency on Saturday after four separate fires broke out. The flames were spreading across large swaths of the narrow strip of barrier land that stretches for more than 100 miles east from New York City out towards the Atlantic Ocean.

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Fires rage on Long Island as New York governor declares state of emergency

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State agencies responding around Pine Barrens, where homes, chemical factory and Amazon warehouse are at risk

Quick-moving brush fires burned through a large swath of land on New York’s Long Island on Saturday, fanned by high winds that spewed thick grey smoke into the sky and prompted the evacuation of a military base and the closure of a major highway.

Kathy Hochul, the state governor, declared a state of emergency and said state agencies were responding to the fires around the Pine Barrens, a wooded area that is home to commuter towns east of New York City.

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Multiple wildfires in North and South Carolina force evacuations

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Emergency unfolds amid warnings throughout south-east over dry and windy conditions that exacerbate wildfires

Several wildfires were reported on Saturday in North and South Carolina, forcing evacuations.

The emergency unfolded amid warnings throughout the south-east over dry and windy conditions that exacerbate wildfires.

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Japan battles largest wildfire in decades

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More than a thousand people have been evacuated near forest of Ofunato in northern region of Iwate

More than a thousand people have been evacuated as Japan battles its largest wildfire in more than three decades.

The flames are estimated to have spread over about 1,200 hectares (3,000 acres) in the forest of Ofunato in the northern region of Iwate since a fire broke out on Wednesday, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.

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Wildfire debris washes up on LA beaches after major rainstorm

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Beaches in southern California littered with timber, twisted metals, charred silt and urban runoff from Palisades fire

Los Angeles county beaches are contending with the aftermath of recent wildfires and winter storms as debris from the Palisades fire and urban runoff are carried to the shoreline.

After last week’s major rainstorm, beaches in southern California have been littered with timber, twisted metals, construction materials and charred silt and sediment originating from the Palisades fire in January. That blaze, along with the Eaton fire, killed at least 29 people.

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US Forest Service and National Park Service to fire thousands of workers

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Agencies say Trump’s latest push to trim government could impede firefighting efforts and create crises at national parks

The US Forest Service is firing about 3,400 recent hires while the National Park Service is terminating about 1,000 workers under Donald Trump’s push to cut federal spending and bureaucracy, according to a report on Friday.

The terminations target employees who are in their probationary employment periods, which includes anyone hired less than a year ago, according to Reuters, and will affect sites such as the Appalachian trail, Yellowstone, the birthplace of Martin Luther King Jr and the Sequoia national forest.

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Storm-fueled mud submerges roads in California town hit by LA wildfires

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Residents in Sierra Madre begin cleanup effort after strongest storm of year sweeps through southern California

Residents of a southern California mountain community near the Eaton fire burn scar dug out of roads submerged in sludge on Friday after the strongest storm of the year swept through the area, unleashing debris flows and muddy messes in several neighborhoods recently torched by wildfires.

Water, debris and boulders rushed down the mountain in the city of Sierra Madre on Thursday night, trapping at least one car in the mud and damaging several home garages with mud and debris. Bulldozers on Friday were cleaning up the mud-covered streets in the city of 10,000 people.

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Over the moon: Billie Eilish sports 188-year-old Yorkshire wool brand at Grammys

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The singer paid tribute to her home city wearing an LA Dodgers baseball cap crafted by English woollen mill Moon

When Billie Eilish took to the stage at the 67th Grammy awards wearing a hat with the branding of the baseball team the Los Angeles Dodgers, few would have noticed the much smaller logo on the side with two tiny union flags and the word “Moon”.

But in a small town in West Yorkshire, Moon is a household name, as one of the last surviving woollen mills in the UK.

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