Wildfires continue to rage in Spain for the fifth consecutive day. Evacuation is underway as blaze goes out of control.

Evacuation underway in Spain after wildfires go out of control

Wildfires continue to rage in Spain for the fifth consecutive day as evacuations are underway in the country. The Spanish govt has deployed its military to combat the wildfires which have destroyed nearly 7,000 hectares of forest so far.

Wildfire flare continue for the fifth day in parts of southern Spain

As Greece battles wildfire survivors struggle to grapple that the disaster would change their lives. They are left without a home and livelihood. WION brings you a report.

Greeks return to fire-ravaged village, home reduces to rubble in Evia

The situation in France is going from bad to worse. Despite President Emmanuel Macron's assurances, the wildfires in the French Riviera are yet to be contained. Evacuations continue as these wildfires spread to newer areas.

Heatwave fuels wildfires in French Riviera, thousands evacuated

A&nbsp;wildfire&nbsp;that erupted outside&nbsp;California's&nbsp;state&nbsp;capital&nbsp;just a few days ago had exploded to cover 54,000 acres by Wednesday, an eight-fold increase in 24 hours.

At least two people had to be airlifted to hospital as the Caldor Fire tore through a small town around 80 kilometres (50 miles) from Sacramento.

Thousands of people have been told to seek safety, with the blaze raging uncontrolled through the Eldorado National Forest.

"Please, please heed the warnings, and then when you're asked to get out, get out," Fire Chief Thom Porter said, according to the Sacramento Bee newspaper.

"We need you out of the way so we can protect your homes from these fires."

In a stunning demonstration of the way these blazes transform, the Caldor Fire, which began on Saturday, grew from around 6,500 acres on Tuesday morning, fanned by strong winds and huge reserves of tinder-dry fuel.

The Caldor Fire is one of scores raging across the desiccated western United States, as man-made climate change alters weather patterns and brings chronic drought to the region.

On Wednesday, the Lake County Sheriff's Office issued evacuation orders for parts of the town of Lower Lake, including two schools and a mobile home park, after a&nbsp;new&nbsp;blaze erupted there.

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"If you're in Lower Lake, you should probably get out of here," Sheriff Brian Martin said in a Facebook video.

"We've got some pretty sticky situations going on. This is a very, very serious event."

The Lake County News said firefighters had seen RVs ablaze, with reports that authorities were going door-to-door to urge people to flee the quickly developing Cache Fire.

Dixie Fire still burning

Further north, the huge Dixie Fire continued to burn.

It has now scorched more than 600,000 acres in the month since it started, and is the second biggest blaze in&nbsp;California's history.

Photos taken by an AFP journalist show towering flames consuming the trees along the side of a highway, as firefighters try to set containment lines.

In the town of Janesville, the burned out hulks of cars sit among the still-smoking undergrowth; elsewhere, mailboxes exposed to the ferocious heat of the flames have melted out of shape.

The acrid smoke created by wildfires sparked an air quality advisory Wednesday for residents in and around San Francisco.

Utility PG&amp;E on Tuesday began shutting off power supply to more than 50,000 customers.

The company, which has acknowledged that its equipment may have started the Dixie Fire, said the shut-offs were to avoid the danger of live lines falling on dry vegetation.

The last decade has seen a huge rise in the number of wildfires in the west of the United States.

Climate change linked to the burning of fossil fuels has made the region dryer and hotter for longer, creating ideal conditions for the blazes to rage.

A wildfire that erupted outside California's state capital just a few days ago had exploded to cover 54,000 acres by Wednesday, an eight-fold increase in 24 hours.

A wildfire that erupted outside California's state capital just a few days ago had exploded to cover 54,000 acres by Wednesday, an eight-fold increase in 24 hours. At least two people had to be airlifted to hospital as the Caldor Fire tore through a small town around 80 kilometres (50 miles) from Sacramento. Thousands of people have been told to seek safety, with the blaze raging uncontrolled through the Eldorado National Forest. "Please, please heed the warnings, and then when you're asked to get out, get out," Fire Chief Thom Porter said, according to the Sacramento Bee newspaper. "We need you out of the way so we can protect your homes from these fires." In a stunning demonstration of the way these blazes transform, the Caldor Fire, which began on Saturday, grew from around 6,500 acres on Tuesday morning, fanned by strong winds and huge reserves of tinder-dry fuel. The Caldor Fire is one of scores raging across the desiccated western United States, as man-made climate change alters weather patterns and brings chronic drought to the region. On Wednesday, the Lake County Sheriff's Office issued evacuation orders for parts of the town of Lower Lake, including two schools and a mobile home park, after a new blaze erupted there. Also read | Belarus: News agency targetted by police amid crackdown "If you're in Lower Lake, you should probably get out of here," Sheriff Brian Martin said in a Facebook video. "We've got some pretty sticky situations going on. This is a very, very serious event." The Lake County News said firefighters had seen RVs ablaze, with reports that authorities were going door-to-door to urge people to flee the quickly developing Cache Fire. Dixie Fire still burning Further north, the huge Dixie Fire continued to burn. It has now scorched more than 600,000 acres in the month since it started, and is the second biggest blaze in California's history. Photos taken by an AFP journalist show towering flames consuming the trees along the side of a highway, as firefighters try to set containment lines. In the town of Janesville, the burned out hulks of cars sit among the still-smoking undergrowth; elsewhere, mailboxes exposed to the ferocious heat of the flames have melted out of shape. The acrid smoke created by wildfires sparked an air quality advisory Wednesday for residents in and around San Francisco. Utility PG&E on Tuesday began shutting off power supply to more than 50,000 customers. The company, which has acknowledged that its equipment may have started the Dixie Fire, said the shut-offs were to avoid the danger of live lines falling on dry vegetation. The last decade has seen a huge rise in the number of wildfires in the west of the United States. Climate change linked to the burning of fossil fuels has made the region dryer and hotter for longer, creating ideal conditions for the blazes to rage.

New wildfire explodes near California state capital

Europe and the Mediterranean continue to remain the world's wildfire hotspots. Nearly ten countries have been affected by the wildfires and more than 100 people have been killed whereas thousands have been left homeless.

Europe and Mediterranean wildfire ravage over ten countries

Firefighters battled three&nbsp;wildfires&nbsp;in&nbsp;Spain&nbsp;on Thursday as a&nbsp;heatwave&nbsp;that has enveloped southeastern Europe in recent days shifted west towards the Iberian peninsula.

Dozens of firefighters backed by four water-dropping aircraft were on the scene of a blaze in the northeastern province of Tarragona which has so far destroyed some 40 hectares (100 acres) of protected forest, local officials said.

Two smaller fires were burning in the northern wine-producing region of La Rioja and the northeastern province of Zaragoza, which involved two planes.

The&nbsp;wildfires&nbsp;come as temperatures were forecast to reach highs of around 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in much of&nbsp;Spain&nbsp;and neighbouring Portugal in the coming days.

The mercury could hit the mid-40s in some areas of southern&nbsp;Spain.

Scientists say global temperature rises powered by manmade climate change will make heatwaves more frequent and more intense, and their impact more widespread.

A&nbsp;heatwave&nbsp;fed by hot air from North Africa has engulfed large parts of the Mediterranean region in recent days, contributing to massive&nbsp;wildfires&nbsp;and killing dozens of people in Italy, Turkey, Greece and Algeria.

All but three of&nbsp;Spain's 17 regions were on alert for heat while Portugal's weather office warned that the centre and north of the country as well as parts of the southern Algarve province were on "maximum" alert for&nbsp;wildfires.

In 2017, fires killed dozens of people in Portugal.

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Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa urged people to avoid "risky behaviours" which could cause&nbsp;wildfires.

"We know that the next few days are going to be difficult," he told reporters on Thursday during a visit to a civil protection headquarters.

"We are facing a permanent challenge that is the result of climate change," he added.

Spain's northeastern Catalonia region on Thursday banned camping in forests and sporting activities in rural areas to reduce the risk of&nbsp;wildfires.

It also prohibited the use of some farm equipment during the hottest hours of the day.

For the first time since 1920, temperatures are forecast to soar above 40 degrees Celsius for three consecutive days at Madrid's central Retiro park, tweeted Ruben del Campo, the spokesman for&nbsp;Spain's national weather office AEMET.

The number of heatwaves registered in&nbsp;Spain&nbsp;between 2011 and 2020 is double the number recorded in each of the three previous decades, he told AFP.

Firefighters battled three wildfires in Spain on Thursday as a heatwave that has enveloped southeastern Europe in recent days shifted west towards the Iberian peninsula.

Firefighters battled three wildfires in Spain on Thursday as a heatwave that has enveloped southeastern Europe in recent days shifted west towards the Iberian peninsula. Dozens of firefighters backed by four water-dropping aircraft were on the scene of a blaze in the northeastern province of Tarragona which has so far destroyed some 40 hectares (100 acres) of protected forest, local officials said. Two smaller fires were burning in the northern wine-producing region of La Rioja and the northeastern province of Zaragoza, which involved two planes. The wildfires come as temperatures were forecast to reach highs of around 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in much of Spain and neighbouring Portugal in the coming days. The mercury could hit the mid-40s in some areas of southern Spain. Scientists say global temperature rises powered by manmade climate change will make heatwaves more frequent and more intense, and their impact more widespread. A heatwave fed by hot air from North Africa has engulfed large parts of the Mediterranean region in recent days, contributing to massive wildfires and killing dozens of people in Italy, Turkey, Greece and Algeria. All but three of Spain's 17 regions were on alert for heat while Portugal's weather office warned that the centre and north of the country as well as parts of the southern Algarve province were on "maximum" alert for wildfires. In 2017, fires killed dozens of people in Portugal. Also read | WHO forms new expert group to continue research into origins of Covid in Wuhan Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa urged people to avoid "risky behaviours" which could cause wildfires. "We know that the next few days are going to be difficult," he told reporters on Thursday during a visit to a civil protection headquarters. "We are facing a permanent challenge that is the result of climate change," he added. Spain's northeastern Catalonia region on Thursday banned camping in forests and sporting activities in rural areas to reduce the risk of wildfires. It also prohibited the use of some farm equipment during the hottest hours of the day. For the first time since 1920, temperatures are forecast to soar above 40 degrees Celsius for three consecutive days at Madrid's central Retiro park, tweeted Ruben del Campo, the spokesman for Spain's national weather office AEMET. The number of heatwaves registered in Spain between 2011 and 2020 is double the number recorded in each of the three previous decades, he told AFP.

Spain battles wildfires as heatwave kicks in

Hundreds of firefighters battled Thursday to contain new flare-ups in wildfire-ravaged areas of Greece, where summer infernos have caused what the prime minister described as the country's "greatest ecological disaster in decades".

However, rain overnight in some areas and falling temperatures appeared to have eased the situation after two weeks of devastating blazes, and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said "we can be more optimistic today" than previous days.

Greece's most severe heatwave in decades has fanned blazes that have destroyed more than 100,000 hectares of forests and farmland, the country's worst wildfire damage since 2007, the European Forest Fire Information System said Thursday.

The fires have left three dead, hundreds homeless, forced thousands to flee, and caused economic and environmental devastation.

Greece is just one of a number of countries in the Mediterranean region that have been hit by a savage fire season which authorities have blamed on climate change.

Mitsotakis on Thursday described the "mega fires" as Greece's "greatest ecological disaster in decades".

"Climate crisis is here... and it tells us that everything must change," he told reporters, pointing to other devastating fires in Turkey, Italy and Algeria.

The prime minister said firefighters, volunteers and locals had saved "countless" homes and businesses, but dozens of properties had been lost nonetheless.

Mitsotakis said that 150 homes have been lost in greater Athens over the last week, while the count is ongoing on the island of Evia, which accounts for more than half of the area burned nationwide.

'Can't take it anymore'

A fire service official told AFP on Thursday that "the fire fronts are still active" on Evia and in the Arcadia region of the Peloponnese peninsula and "fires are constantly flaring up" in both areas.

In the north of Evia, where hundreds have been evacuated by boat, 858 firefighters including reinforcements from Ukraine, Romania and Serbia, were battling the flames.

And there was fresh concern in Athens after a new fire broke out on Thursday morning in the industrial zone of Aspropyrgos, 20 kilometres (12 miles) northwest of the capital.

At the height of the fires in early August, the flames had reached the gates of Athens, filling the sky of the city of four million inhabitants with grey smoke.

But after weeks of punishing temperatures often well over 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), a lower 33 degrees Celsius was forecast for Thursday.

The falling temperatures and overnight rain in Evia, the Peloponnese and central Greece had helped improve the situation, said Stathis Koulis, the mayor of Gortynia.

The village of Gortynia in a mountainous area of Arcadia 200 kilometres (120 miles) west of Athens has become the primary focus in the Peloponnese, with deep ravines posing a challenge to firefighters.

Twenty villages have been evacuated in the area over the past few days and 680 firefighters, including more than a hundred sent to help from France, and five water-dropping aircraft have been relentlessly battling the flames.

"I can't take it anymore," said farmer Kostis Angelou as he wandered between the corpses of his goats, all 372 of them burnt by a fire that devoured forests on Evia.

The 44-year-old managed to survive by spending hours under an irrigation water pipe, surrounded by flames.

"A saint saved me," he said.

Climate 'code red'

The latest extreme weather events come after a "code red" report from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was published on Monday warning that the world is warming far faster than previously feared.

The Mediterranean has been singled out as a "climate change hotspot", with increasing temperatures and aridity lengthening fire seasons and doubling the areas potential burnt, according to draft IPCC assessment seen exclusively by AFP.

Algeria announced three days of national mourning starting Thursday for the 69 dead killed in blazes there.

Five have died in fires in Italy, where what is believed to be a new European record of 48.8 degrees Celsius (119.8 Fahrenheit) was registered in Sicily on Wednesday -- beating the previous high recorded in Greece in 1977.

Eight people were killed in fires in Turkey's south earlier in the month, while in the north the death count rose to five on Thursday from flash floods that have swept across several Black Sea regions.

Hundreds of firefighters battled Thursday to contain new flare-ups in wildfire-ravaged areas of Greece, where summer infernos have caused what the prime minister described as the country's "greatest ecological disaster in decades".

Hundreds of firefighters battled Thursday to contain new flare-ups in wildfire-ravaged areas of Greece, where summer infernos have caused what the prime minister described as the country's "greatest ecological disaster in decades". However, rain overnight in some areas and falling temperatures appeared to have eased the situation after two weeks of devastating blazes, and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said "we can be more optimistic today" than previous days. Greece's most severe heatwave in decades has fanned blazes that have destroyed more than 100,000 hectares of forests and farmland, the country's worst wildfire damage since 2007, the European Forest Fire Information System said Thursday. The fires have left three dead, hundreds homeless, forced thousands to flee, and caused economic and environmental devastation. Greece is just one of a number of countries in the Mediterranean region that have been hit by a savage fire season which authorities have blamed on climate change. Mitsotakis on Thursday described the "mega fires" as Greece's "greatest ecological disaster in decades". "Climate crisis is here... and it tells us that everything must change," he told reporters, pointing to other devastating fires in Turkey, Italy and Algeria. The prime minister said firefighters, volunteers and locals had saved "countless" homes and businesses, but dozens of properties had been lost nonetheless. Mitsotakis said that 150 homes have been lost in greater Athens over the last week, while the count is ongoing on the island of Evia, which accounts for more than half of the area burned nationwide. 'Can't take it anymore' A fire service official told AFP on Thursday that "the fire fronts are still active" on Evia and in the Arcadia region of the Peloponnese peninsula and "fires are constantly flaring up" in both areas. In the north of Evia, where hundreds have been evacuated by boat, 858 firefighters including reinforcements from Ukraine, Romania and Serbia, were battling the flames. And there was fresh concern in Athens after a new fire broke out on Thursday morning in the industrial zone of Aspropyrgos, 20 kilometres (12 miles) northwest of the capital. At the height of the fires in early August, the flames had reached the gates of Athens, filling the sky of the city of four million inhabitants with grey smoke. But after weeks of punishing temperatures often well over 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), a lower 33 degrees Celsius was forecast for Thursday. The falling temperatures and overnight rain in Evia, the Peloponnese and central Greece had helped improve the situation, said Stathis Koulis, the mayor of Gortynia. The village of Gortynia in a mountainous area of Arcadia 200 kilometres (120 miles) west of Athens has become the primary focus in the Peloponnese, with deep ravines posing a challenge to firefighters. Twenty villages have been evacuated in the area over the past few days and 680 firefighters, including more than a hundred sent to help from France, and five water-dropping aircraft have been relentlessly battling the flames. "I can't take it anymore," said farmer Kostis Angelou as he wandered between the corpses of his goats, all 372 of them burnt by a fire that devoured forests on Evia. The 44-year-old managed to survive by spending hours under an irrigation water pipe, surrounded by flames. "A saint saved me," he said. Climate 'code red' The latest extreme weather events come after a "code red" report from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was published on Monday warning that the world is warming far faster than previously feared. The Mediterranean has been singled out as a "climate change hotspot", with increasing temperatures and aridity lengthening fire seasons and doubling the areas potential burnt, according to draft IPCC assessment seen exclusively by AFP. Algeria announced three days of national mourning starting Thursday for the 69 dead killed in blazes there. Five have died in fires in Italy, where what is believed to be a new European record of 48.8 degrees Celsius (119.8 Fahrenheit) was registered in Sicily on Wednesday -- beating the previous high recorded in Greece in 1977. Eight people were killed in fires in Turkey's south earlier in the month, while in the north the death count rose to five on Thursday from flash floods that have swept across several Black Sea regions.

Over 100,000 hectares burned as Greece faces ‘ecological disaster’ from wildfires

Blazes raged across northern&nbsp;Algeria&nbsp;on Thursday as the country observed a national day of mourning for dozens of people killed in the latest wildfires to sweep the Mediterranean.

The North African country has been in the grip of devastating fires since Monday that have claimed 69 lives, including&nbsp;41 civilians and 28 soldiers.

Soldiers and civilian volunteers have joined firefighters on multiple fronts in the effort to extinguish the blazes that have been fanned by windy and tinder-dry conditions.

In Tizi Ouzou district, the area with the highest casualty toll, an AFP journalist reported entire sectors of forest going up in smoke as far as the eye can see.

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Villagers forced to evacuate in order to escape the flames began trickling back to their homes, overwhelmed by the scale of the damage.

"I have nothing left. My workshop, my car, my flat. Even the tiles were destroyed," one of them told AFP.

But he said he had "managed to save his family", while adding that "neighbours died or lost their relatives".&nbsp;

'Surge of solidarity'

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune declared three days of national mourning starting from Thursday, and authorities say they suspect widespread arson after so many fires erupted in such a short space of time.

On the fourth day of the wildfires, efforts to overcome the blazes are continuing in many regions where civilians and soldiers often with limited means joined the fight.

Images of trapped villagers, terrified livestock and forested hillsides reduced to blackened stumps have been shared on social media.

Algeria&nbsp;is also chartering two firefighting planes from the European Union, aircraft recently used to stop fires in Greece.

France announced on Wednesday that it was sending three more aircraft.

Neighbouring Morocco, with whom&nbsp;Algeria&nbsp;has long had strained ties over the Western Sahara, also expressed a readiness to help by providing two planes.

Faced with the scale of the disaster, pleas for help are multiplying in&nbsp;Algeria&nbsp;and beyond.

"Individuals and associations are mobilising... by organising collections of clothes, foodstuffs, medicines and hygiene products," said the TSA news website, calling it a "surge of solidarity".

Heatwave

High winds fuelled the rapid spread of the flames in tinder-dry conditions created by a heatwave across North Africa and the wider Mediterranean.

The authorities have raised the possibility of criminal behaviour.

Four suspected "arsonists" arrested so far, but their identities or suspected motives have not yet been disclosed.

Armed forces chief Said Chengriha visited soldiers in Tizi Ouzou and Bejaia, another badly affected area. Prime Minister Aimene Benabderrahmane also visited Tizi Ouzou.

Each summer,&nbsp;Algeria&nbsp;endures seasonal wildfires, but rarely anything approaching this year's disaster.

Meteorologistsexpect the Maghreb heatwave to continue until the end of the week, with temperatures in&nbsp;Algeria&nbsp;reaching 50 degrees Celsius.

Across the border in Tunisia, the temperature in the capital Tunis hit an all-time record of 49 degrees Celsius&nbsp;on Tuesday.

On the northern shores of the Mediterranean, deadly wildfires have been raging in Turkey and Greece for the past two weeks.

In Italy, where firefighters were battling more than 500 blazes overnight, Sicily recorded a temperature of 48.8 degrees Celsius&nbsp;on Wednesday which is believed to be a new European record.

Blazes raged across northern Algeria on Thursday as the country observed a national day of mourning for dozens of people killed in the latest wildfires to sweep the Mediterranean.

Blazes raged across northern Algeria on Thursday as the country observed a national day of mourning for dozens of people killed in the latest wildfires to sweep the Mediterranean. The North African country has been in the grip of devastating fires since Monday that have claimed 69 lives, including 41 civilians and 28 soldiers. Soldiers and civilian volunteers have joined firefighters on multiple fronts in the effort to extinguish the blazes that have been fanned by windy and tinder-dry conditions. In Tizi Ouzou district, the area with the highest casualty toll, an AFP journalist reported entire sectors of forest going up in smoke as far as the eye can see. Also read | Young Afghan general takes fight against Taliban to social media Villagers forced to evacuate in order to escape the flames began trickling back to their homes, overwhelmed by the scale of the damage. "I have nothing left. My workshop, my car, my flat. Even the tiles were destroyed," one of them told AFP. But he said he had "managed to save his family", while adding that "neighbours died or lost their relatives". 'Surge of solidarity' President Abdelmadjid Tebboune declared three days of national mourning starting from Thursday, and authorities say they suspect widespread arson after so many fires erupted in such a short space of time. On the fourth day of the wildfires, efforts to overcome the blazes are continuing in many regions where civilians and soldiers often with limited means joined the fight. Images of trapped villagers, terrified livestock and forested hillsides reduced to blackened stumps have been shared on social media. Algeria is also chartering two firefighting planes from the European Union, aircraft recently used to stop fires in Greece. France announced on Wednesday that it was sending three more aircraft. Neighbouring Morocco, with whom Algeria has long had strained ties over the Western Sahara, also expressed a readiness to help by providing two planes. Faced with the scale of the disaster, pleas for help are multiplying in Algeria and beyond. "Individuals and associations are mobilising... by organising collections of clothes, foodstuffs, medicines and hygiene products," said the TSA news website, calling it a "surge of solidarity". Heatwave High winds fuelled the rapid spread of the flames in tinder-dry conditions created by a heatwave across North Africa and the wider Mediterranean. The authorities have raised the possibility of criminal behaviour. Four suspected "arsonists" arrested so far, but their identities or suspected motives have not yet been disclosed. Armed forces chief Said Chengriha visited soldiers in Tizi Ouzou and Bejaia, another badly affected area. Prime Minister Aimene Benabderrahmane also visited Tizi Ouzou. Each summer, Algeria endures seasonal wildfires, but rarely anything approaching this year's disaster. Meteorologistsexpect the Maghreb heatwave to continue until the end of the week, with temperatures in Algeria reaching 50 degrees Celsius. Across the border in Tunisia, the temperature in the capital Tunis hit an all-time record of 49 degrees Celsius on Tuesday. On the northern shores of the Mediterranean, deadly wildfires have been raging in Turkey and Greece for the past two weeks. In Italy, where firefighters were battling more than 500 blazes overnight, Sicily recorded a temperature of 48.8 degrees Celsius on Wednesday which is believed to be a new European record.

Wildfires rage as Algeria observes day of mourning

Firefighters, troops and civilian volunteers battled blazes in forests across northern Algeria Wednesday as the country reeled at a death toll of at least 65 people in the latest Mediterranean wildfires.

Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune declared three days of national mourning starting from Thursday, and authorities say they suspect widespread arson after so many fires erupted in such a short space of time.

Twenty-eight of those killed were soldiers deployed to help overstretched emergency services tackle the rash of more than 50 fires that broke out on Tuesday, state television reported.

Several arrests have been announced, but the identity or suspected motives of those detained have not been disclosed.

Images of trapped villagers, terrified livestock and forested hillsides reduced to blackened stumps were shared on social media, many of them accompanied by pleas for help.

AFP journalists saw villagers desperately trying to put out the spreading fires with makeshift brooms in an effort to save their homes.

High winds fuelled the rapid spread of the fires in the tinder-dry conditions created by a heatwave across North Africa and the wider Mediterranean, fire official Youcef Ould Mohamed told the state-run APS news agency.

Scores of separate wildfires remained active Wednesday, spread across 17 provinces, emergency services spokesman Nassim Barnaoui told reporters.

Most of the fires and 16 of the deaths were recorded in Tizi Ouzou district, in the mainly Berber region of Kabylie, east of the capital Algiers.

"I left all my stock in my village and fled to Tizi Ouzou with my wife and three children," said Abdelhamid Boudraren, a shopkeeper from the village of Beni Yeni.

"Luckily I own a flat in the centre of Tizi Ouzou, where I'm holed up with my family and some neighbours."

The situation was also "alarming" in Bejaia, Tarch Hakim, the head of civil protection in the city, the second biggest in Kabylie, told APS.

"Things were under control, but with the outbreak of nine large fires on Wednesday morning, our forces are scattered," Hakim said.

Fires in Tunisia

There have been mounting calls for aid convoys to be sent to the worst-hit districts with food and medicine from the capital.

On Wednesday, an AFP correspondent saw several lorries headed to Tizi Ouzou with aid donated by the public.

France's Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the former colonial power "stands ready" to offer support in tackling the situation, and expressed the "solidarity of France with the Algerian people", in a post on Twitter.

The British embassy in Algiers offered their "condolences to those who have died, or been injured or affected".

State media have reported four arrests for suspected arson.

Meteorologists expect the heat wave across North Africa to continue until the end of the week, with temperatures in Algeria reaching 46 degrees Celsius (115 degrees Fahrenheit).

In Algeria's neighbour Tunisia, the temperature in the capital Tunis hit an all-time record of 49 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit) on Tuesday.

The Tunisian emergency services reported 15 fires across the north and northwest, but no casualties.

On the northern shores of the Mediterranean, Turkey reported eight deaths and Greece three from wildfires that have raged for the past two weeks.

Each summer, Algeria endures seasonal wildfires, but rarely anything approaching this year's toll.

In 2020, nearly 440 square kilometres (170 square miles) of forest were destroyed by fire, and several people were arrested on suspicion of arson.

On Monday, the UN released a major report showing how the threat from global warming is even more acute than previously thought.

It highlighted how scientists are quantifying the extent to which human-induced warming increases the intensity and/or likelihood of a specific extreme weather event, such as a heatwave or a wildfire.

Climate change amplifies droughts, creating ideal conditions for wildfires to spread out of control and inflict unprecedented material and environmental damage.

Firefighters, troops and civilian volunteers battled blazes in forests across northern Algeria Wednesday as the country reeled at a death toll of at least 65 people in the latest Mediterranean wildfires.

Firefighters, troops and civilian volunteers battled blazes in forests across northern Algeria Wednesday as the country reeled at a death toll of at least 65 people in the latest Mediterranean wildfires. Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune declared three days of national mourning starting from Thursday, and authorities say they suspect widespread arson after so many fires erupted in such a short space of time. Twenty-eight of those killed were soldiers deployed to help overstretched emergency services tackle the rash of more than 50 fires that broke out on Tuesday, state television reported. Several arrests have been announced, but the identity or suspected motives of those detained have not been disclosed. Images of trapped villagers, terrified livestock and forested hillsides reduced to blackened stumps were shared on social media, many of them accompanied by pleas for help. AFP journalists saw villagers desperately trying to put out the spreading fires with makeshift brooms in an effort to save their homes. High winds fuelled the rapid spread of the fires in the tinder-dry conditions created by a heatwave across North Africa and the wider Mediterranean, fire official Youcef Ould Mohamed told the state-run APS news agency. Scores of separate wildfires remained active Wednesday, spread across 17 provinces, emergency services spokesman Nassim Barnaoui told reporters. Most of the fires and 16 of the deaths were recorded in Tizi Ouzou district, in the mainly Berber region of Kabylie, east of the capital Algiers. "I left all my stock in my village and fled to Tizi Ouzou with my wife and three children," said Abdelhamid Boudraren, a shopkeeper from the village of Beni Yeni. "Luckily I own a flat in the centre of Tizi Ouzou, where I'm holed up with my family and some neighbours." The situation was also "alarming" in Bejaia, Tarch Hakim, the head of civil protection in the city, the second biggest in Kabylie, told APS. "Things were under control, but with the outbreak of nine large fires on Wednesday morning, our forces are scattered," Hakim said. Fires in Tunisia There have been mounting calls for aid convoys to be sent to the worst-hit districts with food and medicine from the capital. On Wednesday, an AFP correspondent saw several lorries headed to Tizi Ouzou with aid donated by the public. France's Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the former colonial power "stands ready" to offer support in tackling the situation, and expressed the "solidarity of France with the Algerian people", in a post on Twitter. The British embassy in Algiers offered their "condolences to those who have died, or been injured or affected". State media have reported four arrests for suspected arson. Meteorologists expect the heat wave across North Africa to continue until the end of the week, with temperatures in Algeria reaching 46 degrees Celsius (115 degrees Fahrenheit). In Algeria's neighbour Tunisia, the temperature in the capital Tunis hit an all-time record of 49 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit) on Tuesday. The Tunisian emergency services reported 15 fires across the north and northwest, but no casualties. On the northern shores of the Mediterranean, Turkey reported eight deaths and Greece three from wildfires that have raged for the past two weeks. Each summer, Algeria endures seasonal wildfires, but rarely anything approaching this year's toll. In 2020, nearly 440 square kilometres (170 square miles) of forest were destroyed by fire, and several people were arrested on suspicion of arson. On Monday, the UN released a major report showing how the threat from global warming is even more acute than previously thought. It highlighted how scientists are quantifying the extent to which human-induced warming increases the intensity and/or likelihood of a specific extreme weather event, such as a heatwave or a wildfire. Climate change amplifies droughts, creating ideal conditions for wildfires to spread out of control and inflict unprecedented material and environmental damage.

Algeria mourns 65 dead as Mediterranean wildfires spread

Hundreds of people were evacuated as the wildfire continued to rage in Turkey's Mugla province.

Local authorities said the fire had spread to a coal-fired Kemerkoy&nbsp;thermal plant&nbsp;in southwest Turkey as it continued to spread.&nbsp;

The people working in the plant were evacuated even as environmentalists raised questions over the fire spreading into the plant's coal storage unit.

Watch:

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Regional mayor Osman Gurun said although the explosive material was removed from the plant but there was a risk the fire could spread since there were thousands of tonnes of coal inside.

The thermal powerplant is located along the Aegean Sea.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/climate-threat-wildfires-rage-in-turkey-heatwave-hits-greece-402459">See Pics:&nbsp;Climate threat: Wildfires rage in Turkey, heatwave hits Greece</a>

The wildfire had started at the beginning of the week in the area and then kept on spreading as firefighters worked ceaselessly to bring it under control.

Reports say hundreds of people living near the sea were also evacuated as villagers scampered to collect their belongings and head out to catch the coastguard speedboats in the port of Oren.

European Union's satellite monitoring service said the wildfire's intensity had reached unprecedented values as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government faced mounting criticism.

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The Turkish president lashed out saying there was "no room for politics" while asserting that the opposition should rally behind the nation amid the crisis.

"When fires break out in America or Russia, (the opposition) stands by the government," Erdogan said.

Extreme weather has to lead&nbsp;to heatwaves in the south of the country as experts have warned climate change could increase the intensity of the wildfires as temperatures in the Aegean city of Marmaris reached &nbsp;45.5 degrees Celsius.

At least eight people have died in the wildfire since the fires started two weeks ago with vast forest areas in Turkey's Aegean and Mediterranean coasts completely destroyed.

(With inputs from Agencies)

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Hundreds of people were evacuated as the wildfire continued to rage in Turkey's Mugla province. Local authorities said the fire had spread to a coal-fired Kemerkoy thermal plant in southwest Turkey as it continued to spread.

Hundreds of people were evacuated as the wildfire continued to rage in Turkey's Mugla province. Local authorities said the fire had spread to a coal-fired Kemerkoy thermal plant in southwest Turkey as it continued to spread. The people working in the plant were evacuated even as environmentalists raised questions over the fire spreading into the plant's coal storage unit. Watch: Regional mayor Osman Gurun said although the explosive material was removed from the plant but there was a risk the fire could spread since there were thousands of tonnes of coal inside. The thermal powerplant is located along the Aegean Sea. See Pics: Climate threat: Wildfires rage in Turkey, heatwave hits Greece The wildfire had started at the beginning of the week in the area and then kept on spreading as firefighters worked ceaselessly to bring it under control. Reports say hundreds of people living near the sea were also evacuated as villagers scampered to collect their belongings and head out to catch the coastguard speedboats in the port of Oren. European Union's satellite monitoring service said the wildfire's intensity had reached unprecedented values as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government faced mounting criticism. The Turkish president lashed out saying there was "no room for politics" while asserting that the opposition should rally behind the nation amid the crisis. "When fires break out in America or Russia, (the opposition) stands by the government," Erdogan said. Extreme weather has to lead to heatwaves in the south of the country as experts have warned climate change could increase the intensity of the wildfires as temperatures in the Aegean city of Marmaris reached 45.5 degrees Celsius. At least eight people have died in the wildfire since the fires started two weeks ago with vast forest areas in Turkey's Aegean and Mediterranean coasts completely destroyed. (With inputs from Agencies)

Hundreds evacuated as wildfire reaches Turkey's thermal power plant

Turkish coastguards evacuated hundreds of villagers&nbsp;from&nbsp;a burning power plant on Thursday and Greek firefighters battled a major blaze near the ancient Olympic site as a record&nbsp;heatwave&nbsp;wrecked havoc across Europe's southeast.

The two regional rivals have been united this week in their fight against disasters that officials and experts link to increasingly frequent and intense weather events caused by climate change.

Eight people have died and dozens have been hospitalised across the southern coasts of&nbsp;Turkey&nbsp;since the&nbsp;wildfires&nbsp;erupted last week.

The blazes in&nbsp;Greece&nbsp;this week briefly cut off the main road leading to Athens and saw worrying fires break out in Olympia -- the birthplace of the Olympic Games that is usually crowded with tourists -- and on the island of Evia.

Greece&nbsp;deployed large forces near Olympia to protect archaeological sites where the first Olympic Games were held in antiquity.

"We're waging a battle of the titans!" Greek deputy minister for civil protection Nikos Hardalias said.

But perhaps the biggest shock came when winds whipped up a flash fire that subsumed the grounds of an Aegean coast power plant in&nbsp;Turkey&nbsp;storing thousands of tonnes of coal.

'Where could we go?'

An AFP team saw firefighters and police fleeing the 35-year-old Kemerkoy plant in the Aegean province of Mugla as bright balls of orange flames tore through the surrounding hills.

Hundreds of villagers -- many clutching small bags of belongings grabbed&nbsp;from&nbsp;their abandoned houses as the evacuation call sounded -- piled onto coastguard speedboats at the nearby port of Oren.

The regional authority said "all explosive chemicals" and other hazardous material had been removed&nbsp;from&nbsp;the strategic site.

"But there's a risk that the fire could spread to the thousands of tonnes of coal inside," regional mayor Osman Gurun told reporters.

A few older villagers in Oren refused to leave the disaster-hit region even while thousands of others were shuttled out by car or boats racing along the Aegean Sea.

"Where do you want us to go at our age?" asked 79-year-old Hulusi Kinic.

"We live here. This is our home. Our last solution was to throw ourselves in the sea (if there was an explosion), but thank God that did not happen."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's office said an initial inspection showed the overnight blazes left "no serious damage to the main units in the plant".

'Asking for reinforcements'

More than 100 blazes were still burning in&nbsp;Greece&nbsp;and 180 have ignited in&nbsp;Turkey&nbsp;since July 28 -- more than a dozen of them still active on Wednesday night.

The EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service said July was the second-hottest on record in Europe.

Greece's Hardalias said earlier this week that the ferocity of the fires ravaging the region meant that "we are no longer talking about climate change but a climate threat".

The unfolding disasters saw the leaders of both countries come under pressure&nbsp;from&nbsp;local officials for what they felt was an insufficiently resolute response.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/long-lost-fragment-of-stonehenge-reveals-rock-grains-dating-to-nearly-2-billion-years-ago-403006">Also read |&nbsp;Long-lost fragment of Stonehenge reveals rock grains dating to nearly 2 billion years ago</a>

"We are asking the authorities to reinforce the air and land forces to so as not to risk human lives," Limni mayor Giorgos Tsapourniotis told&nbsp;Greece's ANA news agency.

The Turkish mayor of the town of Milas spent days waging a social media campaign trying to get officials to send firefighting planes that could douse the flames before they engulfed the power plant.

Erdogan on the defensive

Erdogan has come under especially withering criticism for being slow or unwilling to accept some offers of foreign assistance after revealing that&nbsp;Turkey&nbsp;had no functioning firefighting planes.

The crisis has posed an unexpected challenge to the powerful Turkish leader two years before he faces an election that could extend his rule into a third decade.

Erdogan tried to mount a political counterattack in a television interview Wednesday that began just as news broke that the fire had reached the Aegean power plant.

"When fires break out in America or Russia, (the opposition) stands by the government, We don't have this," Erdogan said.

The prosecutors' office in Ankara said Thursday it has launched an investigation into social media posts about the fire that were "trying to create anxiety, fear and panic in the public, and to humiliate the Turkish government".

Turkish coastguards evacuated hundreds of villagers from a burning power plant on Thursday and Greek firefighters battled a major blaze near the ancient Olympic site as a record heatwave wrecked havoc across Europe's southeast.

Turkish coastguards evacuated hundreds of villagers from a burning power plant on Thursday and Greek firefighters battled a major blaze near the ancient Olympic site as a record heatwave wrecked havoc across Europe's southeast. The two regional rivals have been united this week in their fight against disasters that officials and experts link to increasingly frequent and intense weather events caused by climate change. Eight people have died and dozens have been hospitalised across the southern coasts of Turkey since the wildfires erupted last week. The blazes in Greece this week briefly cut off the main road leading to Athens and saw worrying fires break out in Olympia -- the birthplace of the Olympic Games that is usually crowded with tourists -- and on the island of Evia. Greece deployed large forces near Olympia to protect archaeological sites where the first Olympic Games were held in antiquity. "We're waging a battle of the titans!" Greek deputy minister for civil protection Nikos Hardalias said. But perhaps the biggest shock came when winds whipped up a flash fire that subsumed the grounds of an Aegean coast power plant in Turkey storing thousands of tonnes of coal. 'Where could we go?' An AFP team saw firefighters and police fleeing the 35-year-old Kemerkoy plant in the Aegean province of Mugla as bright balls of orange flames tore through the surrounding hills. Hundreds of villagers -- many clutching small bags of belongings grabbed from their abandoned houses as the evacuation call sounded -- piled onto coastguard speedboats at the nearby port of Oren. The regional authority said "all explosive chemicals" and other hazardous material had been removed from the strategic site. "But there's a risk that the fire could spread to the thousands of tonnes of coal inside," regional mayor Osman Gurun told reporters. A few older villagers in Oren refused to leave the disaster-hit region even while thousands of others were shuttled out by car or boats racing along the Aegean Sea. "Where do you want us to go at our age?" asked 79-year-old Hulusi Kinic. "We live here. This is our home. Our last solution was to throw ourselves in the sea (if there was an explosion), but thank God that did not happen." Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's office said an initial inspection showed the overnight blazes left "no serious damage to the main units in the plant". 'Asking for reinforcements' More than 100 blazes were still burning in Greece and 180 have ignited in Turkey since July 28 -- more than a dozen of them still active on Wednesday night. The EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service said July was the second-hottest on record in Europe. Greece's Hardalias said earlier this week that the ferocity of the fires ravaging the region meant that "we are no longer talking about climate change but a climate threat". The unfolding disasters saw the leaders of both countries come under pressure from local officials for what they felt was an insufficiently resolute response. Also read | Long-lost fragment of Stonehenge reveals rock grains dating to nearly 2 billion years ago "We are asking the authorities to reinforce the air and land forces to so as not to risk human lives," Limni mayor Giorgos Tsapourniotis told Greece's ANA news agency. The Turkish mayor of the town of Milas spent days waging a social media campaign trying to get officials to send firefighting planes that could douse the flames before they engulfed the power plant. Erdogan on the defensive Erdogan has come under especially withering criticism for being slow or unwilling to accept some offers of foreign assistance after revealing that Turkey had no functioning firefighting planes. The crisis has posed an unexpected challenge to the powerful Turkish leader two years before he faces an election that could extend his rule into a third decade. Erdogan tried to mount a political counterattack in a television interview Wednesday that began just as news broke that the fire had reached the Aegean power plant. "When fires break out in America or Russia, (the opposition) stands by the government, We don't have this," Erdogan said. The prosecutors' office in Ankara said Thursday it has launched an investigation into social media posts about the fire that were "trying to create anxiety, fear and panic in the public, and to humiliate the Turkish government".

Turkey and Greece reel from raging wildfires during heatwave

When a&nbsp;wildfire&nbsp;spread to his village, Turkish farmer Sercan Bayat shouted at his cows to run from the&nbsp;flames&nbsp;and prayed for his own death rather than witness his animals perish.

Seeing his animals threatened by the inferno -- a moment he captured on video - was the most difficult moment in 30-year-old Bayat's life.

But although he lost eight of his livestock in the blaze, he later found new life in the shape of a newborn&nbsp;goat&nbsp;kid lying helpless, but still breathing, after its mother had died in the fire.

"Two or three hours after the&nbsp;flames&nbsp;were put out, I saw this one on the ground. He is our baby&nbsp;goat&nbsp;now. We called him Miracle," Bayat said.

"We found another&nbsp;goat&nbsp;amidst the&nbsp;wildfire. She has a baby. There you go. Miracle number two," Bayat added, as he kissed the baby&nbsp;goats.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/watch-sir-there-is-something-on-your-chin-biden-accidentally-reveals-staff-note-402076">Also read |&nbsp;Watch: ‘Sir, there is something on your chin’ — Biden accidentally reveals staff note</a>

He said that although his farm in Manavgat in southern&nbsp;Turkey&nbsp;is severely damaged and he lost some of his animals, he is now "over the moon" at the kids' survival.

The massive forest fire was one of the approximately 100 fires that officials say broke out this week across southern and western&nbsp;Turkey. Sweltering heat and strong winds fanned the&nbsp;flames. The death toll from the fires rose to six on Saturday, as two firefighting personnel died during efforts to control the blaze in Manavgat. Thousands were evacuated from their homes.

Satellite imagery showed smoke from the fires in Antalya and Mersin was extending to the island of Cyprus, around 150 km&nbsp; away.

Wildfires are common in southern&nbsp;Turkey&nbsp;in the hot summer months, but local authorities say the latest fires have covered a much bigger area.

When a wildfire spread to his village, Turkish farmer Sercan Bayat shouted at his cows to run from the flames and prayed for his own death rather than witness his animals perish.

When a wildfire spread to his village, Turkish farmer Sercan Bayat shouted at his cows to run from the flames and prayed for his own death rather than witness his animals perish. Seeing his animals threatened by the inferno -- a moment he captured on video - was the most difficult moment in 30-year-old Bayat's life. But although he lost eight of his livestock in the blaze, he later found new life in the shape of a newborn goat kid lying helpless, but still breathing, after its mother had died in the fire. "Two or three hours after the flames were put out, I saw this one on the ground. He is our baby goat now. We called him Miracle," Bayat said. "We found another goat amidst the wildfire. She has a baby. There you go. Miracle number two," Bayat added, as he kissed the baby goats. Also read | Watch: ‘Sir, there is something on your chin’ — Biden accidentally reveals staff note He said that although his farm in Manavgat in southern Turkey is severely damaged and he lost some of his animals, he is now "over the moon" at the kids' survival. The massive forest fire was one of the approximately 100 fires that officials say broke out this week across southern and western Turkey. Sweltering heat and strong winds fanned the flames. The death toll from the fires rose to six on Saturday, as two firefighting personnel died during efforts to control the blaze in Manavgat. Thousands were evacuated from their homes. Satellite imagery showed smoke from the fires in Antalya and Mersin was extending to the island of Cyprus, around 150 km away. Wildfires are common in southern Turkey in the hot summer months, but local authorities say the latest fires have covered a much bigger area.

In Turkey wildfire, birth of 'Miracle' goat defies deadly flames

Raging&nbsp;wildfires&nbsp;in the US northwest and southwestern Canada cast an&nbsp;orange&nbsp;tint on July's&nbsp;full&nbsp;moon&nbsp;on Friday evening, as smoke from multiple blazes gusted toward the east.

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The moon is orange from the wild fires tonight <a href="https://t.co/llBh9vLcfM">pic.twitter.com/llBh9vLcfM</a>
— Blaine Nixon (@scoob1981) <a href="https://twitter.com/scoob1981/status/1416971076094025728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 19, 2021</a></blockquote>
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In Washington, DC, one view of the&nbsp;moon, as seen from the Washington Monument, showed a&nbsp;fully sized orb shifting colors and briefly&nbsp;turning&nbsp;orange. The silhouette of a Marine One helicopter flashed across the&nbsp;moon&nbsp;as it appeared to linger over federal buildings in the US&nbsp;capital.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/five-sites-inscribed-on-unescos-world-heritage-list-400496">Also read |&nbsp;Five sites inscribed on UNESCO’s world heritage list</a>

Dozens of major&nbsp;wildfires&nbsp;are burning across parts of Oregon, Montana, Idaho and California, with Oregon's Bootleg fire the most massive and the state's third largest wildfire on records dating back to 1900.

As of Friday, the Bootleg fire, located about 250 miles south of Portland, had ripped through more than 400,000 acres (162,000 hectares) of drought-parched brush and timber and destroyed at least 67 homes near the California border. At its peak, an estimated 2,000 people were displaced by evacuations.

Raging wildfires in the US northwest and southwestern Canada cast an orange tint on July's full moon on Friday evening, as smoke from multiple blazes gusted toward the east.

Raging wildfires in the US northwest and southwestern Canada cast an orange tint on July's full moon on Friday evening, as smoke from multiple blazes gusted toward the east. The moon is orange from the wild fires tonight pic.twitter.com/llBh9vLcfM — Blaine Nixon (@scoob1981) July 19, 2021 × In Washington, DC, one view of the moon, as seen from the Washington Monument, showed a fully sized orb shifting colors and briefly turning orange. The silhouette of a Marine One helicopter flashed across the moon as it appeared to linger over federal buildings in the US capital. Also read | Five sites inscribed on UNESCO’s world heritage list Dozens of major wildfires are burning across parts of Oregon, Montana, Idaho and California, with Oregon's Bootleg fire the most massive and the state's third largest wildfire on records dating back to 1900. As of Friday, the Bootleg fire, located about 250 miles south of Portland, had ripped through more than 400,000 acres (162,000 hectares) of drought-parched brush and timber and destroyed at least 67 homes near the California border. At its peak, an estimated 2,000 people were displaced by evacuations.

US wildfires turn full moon orange

Wildfires raging across the western United States and Canada, including a two-week-old blaze in Oregon, continued to belch smoke. The smoke has spread eastward causing harmful air pollution as far away as New York City.

Satellite images show smoke of U.S. western wildfires from space

The Western United States is battling multiple wildfires and record-breaking heat for the past few days. At least 70 large wildfires burning across the drought-hit western US have engulfed more than one million acres in flames.

Firefighters battle at least 70 wildfires burning across Western US

A brutal start to the wildfire season in the western United States and Canada worsened Thursday as a massive Oregon blaze exploded in dry, windy conditions and a new California blaze threatened communities devastated by the 2018 Camp Fire.

A brutal start to the wildfire season in the western United States and Canada worsened Thursday as a massive Oregon blaze exploded in dry, windy conditions and a new California blaze threatened communities devastated by the 2018 Camp Fire. Wildfire officials raised their preparedness level to the highest tier -- the earliest such move in a decade -- and Canada's military joined evacuation efforts, as the region reels from the effects of consecutive heat waves that experts say have been worsened by global warming. "This fire is going to continue to grow -- the extremely dry vegetation and weather are not in our favour," said Joe Hessel, who is leading a team tackling Oregon's 227,000-acre Bootleg Fire. We have 15 large wildfires burning over 360,000 acres w/5,000+ firefighters addressing the fires throughout Oregon & Washington. Get the most updated information about wildfires burning in the Pacific NW, please check: https://t.co/C2sliXNvCa pic.twitter.com/lGMvcBmXcR — Forest Service NW (@ForestServiceNW) July 15, 2021 × Burning through the equivalent of 130,000 soccer fields, the Bootleg Fire some 250 miles south of Portland is the largest active blaze in the US, bellowing heavy smoke visible from space that is blanketing parts of neighbouring Washington and Idaho. Firefighters have been dispatched from as far away as San Francisco to tackle the massive blaze, which is showing "extreme" growth through drought-affected brush and due to hot, dry and breezy conditions. It began more than a week ago and is just seven per cent contained, has destroyed 21 homes and threatening almost 2,000 more. Also read | Wildfire ravages Canada amid record heat The inferno is just one of around 70 large fires burning some one million acres (400,000 hectares) in the US alone. 'Deja vu' The governor of the northwestern state of Montana on Wednesday declared a statewide wildland fire emergency. And in California, the newly ignited Dixie Fire began ripping through land near the town of Paradise which was razed by the notorious 2018 Camp Fire -- the deadliest in the state's modern history, killing 86 people. "The fire started just a couple of miles [away], on the same road, as the Camp Fire in 2018," David Little of the North Valley Community Foundation, set up to help Camp Fire victims, told the Los Angeles Times. "It's really a sense of deja vu that's uneasy." The Dixie Fire doubled in size overnight and was zero per cent contained, but was moving away from populated areas such as Paradise. Elsewhere in California the much larger Beckwourth Complex -- a combination of two blazes sparked by lightning last week -- neared 100,000 acres Thursday. Last year was the worst in California's modern history by acres burnt, but 2021 is currently outpacing even that record destruction. The fire season is starting earlier and ending later each year, while much of the state is in the grip of a severe multi-year drought. In Canada, the armed forces are now participating in wildfire evacuations in British Columbia for the first time since the fires began, a military source told AFP. Air quality alerts have been issued in many parts of British Columbia due to smoke from forest fires. As of Thursday afternoon, the province had 309 fires, 23 of which started in the last two days. Scientists say heatwaves arriving in the western US and Canada in late June would have been "virtually impossible" without human-caused climate change. Human activity has driven global temperatures up, stoking increasingly fierce storms, extreme heatwaves, droughts and wildfires.

'Extreme' wildfires and heavy smoke grip western US and Canada

A wildfire in Northern California that continues to grow overnight on Sunday has now partly being contained by the firefighters. The US National weather service has issued heat warnings that will remain in place through Tuesday evening.

California wildfire partly contained by firefighters, mandatory evacuations ordered

The Cyprus Forestry Department said Monday that a deadly wildfire, the island's worst in decades, was now "under full control".

The blaze, fanned by strong winds, broke out Saturday and swept through parts of the Troodos mountain range, leaving four Egyptian labourers dead, before being reined in by water bombing by Greek and Israeli aircraft.

"The fire that broke out on Saturday... came under full control today Monday, July 5, 2021 at 08:00 am (0500 GMT)," the department said in a statement.

It added that firefighters were still deployed en masse around the village of Arakapas to tackle any potential further outbreaks.

The fire, described as the worst since the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus in 1960, destroyed 50 homes, damaged power lines and forced the evacuation of 10 villages.

It burned an area of about 55 square kilometres covered with forest vegetation and crops.

Four Egyptian labourers died trying to escape the village of Odos.

AFP reporters saw thick gnarled trunks of ancient olive trees reduced to smouldering stumps and grey ash replacing yellowed scrub as far as the eye could see, as well as several burned out homes in Ora village.

A 67-year-old farmer was arrested and remanded in custody on suspicion of causing the blaze, a charge he denied.

Police said an eyewitness had seen him leaving Arakapas in his car at the same time the fire started there. He could face charges of recklessly causing four deaths.

More than 600 people from the emergency services and the army were involved in tackling the blaze, with a dozen aircraft and 70 fire trucks as well as a reconnaissance drone, the Forestry Department said.

Aircraft from Israel, Greece and the British bases on Cyprus were also deployed to help.

The Cyprus Forestry Department said Monday that a deadly wildfire, the island's worst in decades, was now "under full control". The blaze, fanned by strong winds, broke out Saturday and swept through parts of the Troodos mountain range, leaving four Egyptian labourers dead, before being reined in by water bombing by Greek and Israeli aircraft.

The Cyprus Forestry Department said Monday that a deadly wildfire, the island's worst in decades, was now "under full control". The blaze, fanned by strong winds, broke out Saturday and swept through parts of the Troodos mountain range, leaving four Egyptian labourers dead, before being reined in by water bombing by Greek and Israeli aircraft. "The fire that broke out on Saturday... came under full control today Monday, July 5, 2021 at 08:00 am (0500 GMT)," the department said in a statement. It added that firefighters were still deployed en masse around the village of Arakapas to tackle any potential further outbreaks. The fire, described as the worst since the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus in 1960, destroyed 50 homes, damaged power lines and forced the evacuation of 10 villages. It burned an area of about 55 square kilometres covered with forest vegetation and crops. Four Egyptian labourers died trying to escape the village of Odos. AFP reporters saw thick gnarled trunks of ancient olive trees reduced to smouldering stumps and grey ash replacing yellowed scrub as far as the eye could see, as well as several burned out homes in Ora village. A 67-year-old farmer was arrested and remanded in custody on suspicion of causing the blaze, a charge he denied. Police said an eyewitness had seen him leaving Arakapas in his car at the same time the fire started there. He could face charges of recklessly causing four deaths. More than 600 people from the emergency services and the army were involved in tackling the blaze, with a dozen aircraft and 70 fire trucks as well as a reconnaissance drone, the Forestry Department said. Aircraft from Israel, Greece and the British bases on Cyprus were also deployed to help.

Cyprus says huge forest fire 'under full control' 

The Canadian military was on standby Saturday to help evacuate towns and fight more than 170 wildfires fueled by a record-smashing heat wave and tinder-dry conditions as the government in Ottawa warned of a "long and challenging summer" ahead.

At least 174 fires were active in the western province of British Columbia, 78 of them sparked in the last two days, officials said. Most were caused by intense lightning storms.

The fires were north of the city of Kamloops, 350 kilometers (220 miles) northeast of Vancouver.

Also read |&nbsp;<a data-ctorig="https://www.wionews.com/world/western-canada-lightning-strikes-up-tenfold-stoking-fires-395534" data-cturl="https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-element-cse&amp;cx=006054055338965708568:09spwrlibei&amp;q=https://www.wionews.com/world/western-canada-lightning-strikes-up-tenfold-stoking-fires-395534&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjitfLPw8jxAhU3zDgGHcr4CFQQFjABegQIARAC&amp;usg=AOvVaw0q0O5IU7DLus4FCrvRUpPn" dir="ltr" href="https://www.wionews.com/world/western-canada-lightning-strikes-up-tenfold-stoking-fires-395534" target="_blank">Western&nbsp;Canada&nbsp;lightning strikes up tenfold, stoking fire</a>

"We saw 12,000 lightning strikes, roughly, yesterday," said Cliff Chapman, the director of provincial operations for British Columbia Wildfire Service, according to public broadcaster the CBC.

"Many of those lightning strikes were hitting near communities, (as) was seen in the Kamloops area."

While the immediate blame for the scorching heat has been placed on a high-pressure "heat dome" trapping warm air in the region, climate change is making record-setting temperatures more frequent.

Globally, the decade to 2019 was the hottest recorded, and the five hottest years on record have all occurred since 2012, according to climate.gov.

Also read |&nbsp;<a data-ctorig="https://www.wionews.com/world/fires-grip-california-tourist-spots-ahead-of-holiday-weekend-395517" data-cturl="https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-element-cse&amp;cx=006054055338965708568:09spwrlibei&amp;q=https://www.wionews.com/world/fires-grip-california-tourist-spots-ahead-of-holiday-weekend-395517&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjitfLPw8jxAhU3zDgGHcr4CFQQFjADegQIAhAC&amp;usg=AOvVaw0U6K53BJxDxuhK2fhu9ojv" dir="ltr" href="https://www.wionews.com/world/fires-grip-california-tourist-spots-ahead-of-holiday-weekend-395517" target="_blank">Fires grip California tourist spots ahead of holiday weekend</a>

"The dry conditions and the extreme heat in British Columbia are unprecedented," Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said Friday. "These wildfires show that we are in the earliest stages of what promises to be a long and challenging summer."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met Friday with an incident response group that included several ministers, after earlier speaking with local, provincial and indigenous leaders.&nbsp;

"We will be there to help," he told reporters.

The response group said it would establish an operations center in Edmonton, with up to 350 military personnel providing logistical support to the region, according to Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan. Military aircraft are also being deployed.

Also read |&nbsp;<a data-ctorig="https://www.wionews.com/world/military-put-on-standby-to-evacuate-canadas-fire-threatened-towns-395553" data-cturl="https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-element-cse&amp;cx=006054055338965708568:09spwrlibei&amp;q=https://www.wionews.com/world/military-put-on-standby-to-evacuate-canadas-fire-threatened-towns-395553&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjitfLPw8jxAhU3zDgGHcr4CFQQFjAEegQICRAC&amp;usg=AOvVaw2tBqMfJCYWQhxMuvkSYNGa" dir="ltr" href="https://www.wionews.com/world/military-put-on-standby-to-evacuate-canadas-fire-threatened-towns-395553" target="_blank">Military put on standby to evacuate&nbsp;Canada's&nbsp;fire-threatened towns</a>

Roughly 1,000 people have fled the wildfires in British Columbia, with many others still missing.

The British Columbia medical examiner's office said there had been 719 deaths in the past week, "three times more" than the average number recorded over the period.

Lisa Lapointe, the province's chief coroner, said the extreme weather was likely "a significant contributing factor."

The village of Lytton, 250 kilometers (155 miles) northeast of Vancouver, was evacuated Wednesday after a fire flared up and spread quickly. Nearly 90 percent of the village was torched, according to Brad Vis, an MP for the area.

"We really just had to get out there and we had no choice," resident Gordon Murray told CBC.

"We grabbed the pets that we could find. We had to leave one behind. We grabbed our wallets and got in the car. We didn't have time for anything else."

On Tuesday, the village set a Canadian record of 49.6 degrees Celsius (121 degrees Fahrenheit).

Wide area affected

The heat wave continued to spread across central Canada on Saturday, also affecting the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, as well as parts of the Northwest Territories and northern Ontario.

"A dangerous long-duration heat wave will continue," bringing "very warm temperatures over the next couple of days," Environment Canada warned in bulletins for British Columbia.

Lytton resident Jeff Chapman told the CBC he saw his parents die in the fire that engulfed the town.

With only minutes to react, the elderly couple sought shelter in a trench in their backyard, as Chapman ran for safety at nearby rail tracks. From that vantage, he said, he saw the fires sweep across and destroy most of the town.

British Columbia also warned of flooding from melting mountain snowcaps and glaciers.

Further south, the US states of Washington and Oregon have also suffered record temperatures.

The death toll in Oregon from heat-related causes has hit 94, the state's medical examiner said late Friday.

Three wildfires in drought-hit northern California have scorched nearly 40,000 acres (16,200 hectares), including a popular tourist lake preparing to welcome visitors for the July 4 holiday weekend. Evacuation orders were in place along stretches of Shasta Lake.

Around 40 structures were destroyed.

The Canadian military was on standby Saturday to help evacuate towns and fight more than 170 wildfires fueled by a record-smashing heat wave and tinder-dry conditions as the government in Ottawa warned of a "long and challenging summer" ahead.

The Canadian military was on standby Saturday to help evacuate towns and fight more than 170 wildfires fueled by a record-smashing heat wave and tinder-dry conditions as the government in Ottawa warned of a "long and challenging summer" ahead. At least 174 fires were active in the western province of British Columbia, 78 of them sparked in the last two days, officials said. Most were caused by intense lightning storms. The fires were north of the city of Kamloops, 350 kilometers (220 miles) northeast of Vancouver. Also read | Western Canada lightning strikes up tenfold, stoking fire "We saw 12,000 lightning strikes, roughly, yesterday," said Cliff Chapman, the director of provincial operations for British Columbia Wildfire Service, according to public broadcaster the CBC. "Many of those lightning strikes were hitting near communities, (as) was seen in the Kamloops area." While the immediate blame for the scorching heat has been placed on a high-pressure "heat dome" trapping warm air in the region, climate change is making record-setting temperatures more frequent. Globally, the decade to 2019 was the hottest recorded, and the five hottest years on record have all occurred since 2012, according to climate.gov. Also read | Fires grip California tourist spots ahead of holiday weekend "The dry conditions and the extreme heat in British Columbia are unprecedented," Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said Friday. "These wildfires show that we are in the earliest stages of what promises to be a long and challenging summer." Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met Friday with an incident response group that included several ministers, after earlier speaking with local, provincial and indigenous leaders. "We will be there to help," he told reporters. The response group said it would establish an operations center in Edmonton, with up to 350 military personnel providing logistical support to the region, according to Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan. Military aircraft are also being deployed. Also read | Military put on standby to evacuate Canada's fire-threatened towns Roughly 1,000 people have fled the wildfires in British Columbia, with many others still missing. The British Columbia medical examiner's office said there had been 719 deaths in the past week, "three times more" than the average number recorded over the period. Lisa Lapointe, the province's chief coroner, said the extreme weather was likely "a significant contributing factor." The village of Lytton, 250 kilometers (155 miles) northeast of Vancouver, was evacuated Wednesday after a fire flared up and spread quickly. Nearly 90 percent of the village was torched, according to Brad Vis, an MP for the area. "We really just had to get out there and we had no choice," resident Gordon Murray told CBC. "We grabbed the pets that we could find. We had to leave one behind. We grabbed our wallets and got in the car. We didn't have time for anything else." On Tuesday, the village set a Canadian record of 49.6 degrees Celsius (121 degrees Fahrenheit). Wide area affected The heat wave continued to spread across central Canada on Saturday, also affecting the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, as well as parts of the Northwest Territories and northern Ontario. "A dangerous long-duration heat wave will continue," bringing "very warm temperatures over the next couple of days," Environment Canada warned in bulletins for British Columbia. Lytton resident Jeff Chapman told the CBC he saw his parents die in the fire that engulfed the town. With only minutes to react, the elderly couple sought shelter in a trench in their backyard, as Chapman ran for safety at nearby rail tracks. From that vantage, he said, he saw the fires sweep across and destroy most of the town. British Columbia also warned of flooding from melting mountain snowcaps and glaciers. Further south, the US states of Washington and Oregon have also suffered record temperatures. The death toll in Oregon from heat-related causes has hit 94, the state's medical examiner said late Friday. Three wildfires in drought-hit northern California have scorched nearly 40,000 acres (16,200 hectares), including a popular tourist lake preparing to welcome visitors for the July 4 holiday weekend. Evacuation orders were in place along stretches of Shasta Lake. Around 40 structures were destroyed.

Canadian military on alert as wildfires rage

In Pics | Catastrophic 'salt fire' engulfs California

Ever heard of zombie fires? Those might be the next threat we face as a civilisation battling the disastrous effects of climate change. Forest fires have become extremely regular over the last few years, with regular reports coming in from different parts of the world including Australia, the United States, and the Amazon rainforest in South America.

But the most dangerous threat lies in the boreal forests located&nbsp;in the far north reaches of planet Earth. In these areas, changes in climate are causing more warming than elsewhere.

And that’s not even the worst part. Apparently, many wildfires have developed the ability to re-spawn. Turns out, the “zombie&nbsp;wildfires" in the upper north are coming back to life in spring after seemingly dying off due to winter snow. As soon as the snow retreats, the fires resuscitate back to life.

Scientists from the Netherlands and Alaska have now devised ways to predict the scope and dangers of such “zombie fires” that are now burning throughout the year.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/climate-change-is-killing-worlds-oldest-animal-cave-painting-in-sulawesi-386069" hreflang="en">Climate change is killing world's oldest animal cave painting in Sulawesi</a>

Between 2002 to 2018, about one per cent of the burning that took place in Alaska and Canada’s northwestern territories was able to survive winters, and extended well into the next year, Reuters first reported.

The study, published in Nature on Wednesday found that “zombie fires” now account for more than 38 per cent of all burning that takes place in the region. Such “zombie fires” are now becoming more common as climate change pushes territories into drought, in turn causing devastating fires.

The extent of damage caused by these fires was calculated by scientists using a computer algorithm which took into consideration multiple variables including satellite imagery, human presence and infrastructure, and the records of lightning strikes.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/climate-change-to-destroy-over-20-of-tea-growing-areas-in-kenya-by-2050-384100" hreflang="en">Climate change to destroy over 20% of tea growing areas in Kenya by 2050</a>

The algorithm showed that 0.8 per cent of the area in Alaska and Canada’s northwest has burned over the last 20 years. But it is not easy for fires to survive the cold wintery conditions. They need to be ferociously hot and ignited to continue burning beneath the layers of snow. The “zombie fires” point to how quickly climate change is damaging the region.

Ever heard of zombie fires? Those might be the next threat we face as a civilisation battling the disastrous effects of climate change. Forest fires have become extremely regular over the last few years, with regular reports coming in from different parts of the world including Australia, the United States, and the Amazon rainforest in South America.

Ever heard of zombie fires? Those might be the next threat we face as a civilisation battling the disastrous effects of climate change. Forest fires have become extremely regular over the last few years, with regular reports coming in from different parts of the world including Australia, the United States, and the Amazon rainforest in South America. But the most dangerous threat lies in the boreal forests located in the far north reaches of planet Earth. In these areas, changes in climate are causing more warming than elsewhere. And that’s not even the worst part. Apparently, many wildfires have developed the ability to re-spawn. Turns out, the “zombie wildfires" in the upper north are coming back to life in spring after seemingly dying off due to winter snow. As soon as the snow retreats, the fires resuscitate back to life. Scientists from the Netherlands and Alaska have now devised ways to predict the scope and dangers of such “zombie fires” that are now burning throughout the year. Also read: Climate change is killing world's oldest animal cave painting in Sulawesi Between 2002 to 2018, about one per cent of the burning that took place in Alaska and Canada’s northwestern territories was able to survive winters, and extended well into the next year, Reuters first reported. The study, published in Nature on Wednesday found that “zombie fires” now account for more than 38 per cent of all burning that takes place in the region. Such “zombie fires” are now becoming more common as climate change pushes territories into drought, in turn causing devastating fires. The extent of damage caused by these fires was calculated by scientists using a computer algorithm which took into consideration multiple variables including satellite imagery, human presence and infrastructure, and the records of lightning strikes. Also read: Climate change to destroy over 20% of tea growing areas in Kenya by 2050 The algorithm showed that 0.8 per cent of the area in Alaska and Canada’s northwest has burned over the last 20 years. But it is not easy for fires to survive the cold wintery conditions. They need to be ferociously hot and ignited to continue burning beneath the layers of snow. The “zombie fires” point to how quickly climate change is damaging the region.

Meet climate change's latest offering to Earth - 'Zombie wildfires'

Firefighters in Northern Ireland are spending a second day batting fires across difficult terrain on the Mourne Mountains.&nbsp;

More than 70 firefighters and 10 fire trucks from across Northern Ireland were involved Saturday in trying to contain the wildfire, while helicopters from both Britain and Ireland are set to join the effort.&nbsp;

The wildfire has been raging since Friday morning in the Slieve Donard area, the highest point in Northern Ireland, with a peak of 850 meters (2,780 feet).&nbsp;

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service has urged people to stay away from the area as it declared a major incident.&nbsp;

Northern Ireland's first minister, Arlene Foster, said the wildfire is ‘devastating and tragic’, adding that the impact on local wildlife and flora is 'unimaginable’.&nbsp;

Assistant Fire Commander Aidan Jennings said the cause of the wildfire is unknown at present but noted they are 'predominantly caused by human behavior’. He said firefighters are wearing personal protective equipment and travelling for up to an hour and a half to get up the slopes.&nbsp;

"We're working with small pumps out of rivers but predominantly it is a physical, hard, beating-out job up there," he said.&nbsp;

He said the fire was moving quickly, pressed by an easterly wind. The weather has been relatively dry in recent weeks. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Firefighters in Northern Ireland are spending a second day batting fires across difficult terrain on the Mourne Mountains. More than 70 firefighters and 10 fire trucks from across Northern Ireland were involved Saturday in trying to contain the wildfire, while helicopters from both Britain and Ireland are set to join the effort.

Firefighters in Northern Ireland are spending a second day batting fires across difficult terrain on the Mourne Mountains. More than 70 firefighters and 10 fire trucks from across Northern Ireland were involved Saturday in trying to contain the wildfire, while helicopters from both Britain and Ireland are set to join the effort. The wildfire has been raging since Friday morning in the Slieve Donard area, the highest point in Northern Ireland, with a peak of 850 meters (2,780 feet). The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service has urged people to stay away from the area as it declared a major incident. Northern Ireland's first minister, Arlene Foster, said the wildfire is ‘devastating and tragic’, adding that the impact on local wildlife and flora is 'unimaginable’. Assistant Fire Commander Aidan Jennings said the cause of the wildfire is unknown at present but noted they are 'predominantly caused by human behavior’. He said firefighters are wearing personal protective equipment and travelling for up to an hour and a half to get up the slopes. "We're working with small pumps out of rivers but predominantly it is a physical, hard, beating-out job up there," he said. He said the fire was moving quickly, pressed by an easterly wind. The weather has been relatively dry in recent weeks.

Wildfire in Northern Ireland declared a 'major incident' 

A wildfire that broke out in Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa,&nbsp;has damaged properties and historic buildings and spread to a nearby university.

One firefighter was injured and University of Cape Town students were evacuated, according to government authorities.&nbsp;

Table Mountain National Parks (TMNP) confirmed that the location of the fire was immediately above Philip Kgosana drive.&nbsp;

The City of Cape Town said the origin of the blaze is "a vacated vagrant fire". One of the major contributors to the rapid rate of spread was the very old pine trees and their debris, it added.&nbsp;

“The fire created its own wind that further increased the rate of spread. The excessive amount of smoke and related updrafts made it impossible for the aerial support to slow the rate of spread,” Philip Prins, TMNP Fire Manager said.&nbsp;

TMNP and the City of Cape Town have four helicopters currently operating in the areas. There are numerous other water tankers and firefighting vehicles on the scene managed between TMNP and the City.&nbsp;

“It can be confirmed that the Rhodes Memorial restaurant has unfortunately burnt down. The fire has also spread to the veld above the University of Cape Town (UCT)&nbsp; upper campus and to the areas below the M3. Roads have been closed,” it said.&nbsp;

The fire spread to the veld above the UCT and forced the university to evacuate as strong winds caused the fire to spread.

“All UCT students have been evacuated from campus by emergency services support staff. We have taken them to predetermined locations,” the University said on its social media page.

City of Cape Town Mayor, Dan Plato noted that one firefighter was being treated for burn wounds in the hospital.

“Property including private homes, Rhodes Memorial restaurant, and historical structures such as the Mostert’s Hill windmill have been damaged,” the Mayor said.&nbsp;

“It is tragic that literary treasures have been lost at the UCT library, but I have been informed that some of the most valuable works were saved by the quick activation of roller doors,” Plato added.

Members of the public are going all out to help students, firefighters, and everyone affected by the fire. Social media was abuzz with many even offering their homes as accommodations to those affected.&nbsp;

A wildfire that broke out in Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa, has damaged properties and historic buildings and spread to a nearby university. One firefighter was injured and University of Cape Town students were evacuated, according to government authorities.

A wildfire that broke out in Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa, has damaged properties and historic buildings and spread to a nearby university. One firefighter was injured and University of Cape Town students were evacuated, according to government authorities. Table Mountain National Parks (TMNP) confirmed that the location of the fire was immediately above Philip Kgosana drive. The City of Cape Town said the origin of the blaze is "a vacated vagrant fire". One of the major contributors to the rapid rate of spread was the very old pine trees and their debris, it added. “The fire created its own wind that further increased the rate of spread. The excessive amount of smoke and related updrafts made it impossible for the aerial support to slow the rate of spread,” Philip Prins, TMNP Fire Manager said. TMNP and the City of Cape Town have four helicopters currently operating in the areas. There are numerous other water tankers and firefighting vehicles on the scene managed between TMNP and the City. “It can be confirmed that the Rhodes Memorial restaurant has unfortunately burnt down. The fire has also spread to the veld above the University of Cape Town (UCT) upper campus and to the areas below the M3. Roads have been closed,” it said. The fire spread to the veld above the UCT and forced the university to evacuate as strong winds caused the fire to spread. “All UCT students have been evacuated from campus by emergency services support staff. We have taken them to predetermined locations,” the University said on its social media page. City of Cape Town Mayor, Dan Plato noted that one firefighter was being treated for burn wounds in the hospital. “Property including private homes, Rhodes Memorial restaurant, and historical structures such as the Mostert’s Hill windmill have been damaged,” the Mayor said. “It is tragic that literary treasures have been lost at the UCT library, but I have been informed that some of the most valuable works were saved by the quick activation of roller doors,” Plato added. Members of the public are going all out to help students, firefighters, and everyone affected by the fire. Social media was abuzz with many even offering their homes as accommodations to those affected.

South Africa: Table Mountain wildfire threatens University of Cape Town

The day Paradise burned, Aaron Singer was a skeptic. Then he saw the flames in his rearview mirror.

This was November 2018, and the Camp Fire, the most destructive wildfire in California history, was making swift and smoky headway through the Sierra Nevada foothills. It took less than four hours to rip through this town of 26,000 residents, reducing schools, businesses and 11,000 homes into piles of smoldering ash.

When Singer got the evacuation order, he thought it was another false alarm. But he peeled out of his driveway as flames licked his yard, making it out of town with minutes to spare.

Paradise was lost. Eighty-five people died, and more than 90% of its population was driven out. Two years later, about 4,000 residents have returned to its scorched earth to lay new foundations and test fate once again. Singer is among them.

Now he is having second thoughts.

For decades in this chaparral-covered ecosystem, it has been a ritual: After the burn comes the rebuild. But as the nation’s most populous state stares down a seething climate crisis, one that cranked temperatures into triple digits last fall and set off a series of infernos that exploded into bone-dry air, the rebuilding process is beginning to look different.

California has battled dual crises, with the largest wildfire season on record breaking out in the midst of the pandemic. At the close of 2020, as millions of Californians were put under a second lockdown in a bid to quell a massive second surge in COVID-19 cases, more than 4.2 million acres of the state had been scorched by nearly 10,000 fires. But in many ways, the crises have split the state into two: Northern California continues to reel from multiple megafires, including the August Complex Fire and the SCU Lightning Complex Fire that exploded in late summer. And in Southern California, Los Angeles is now the epicenter of the pandemic, leading the nation both in confirmed cases and number of deaths.

In the midst of this, a historic housing shortage and low interest rates have pushed California’s home prices to record highs. In August, the median cost of a single-family home in the state crossed $700,000; in September it climbed further.

And while the cost of new homes is on the rise, many homeowners are finding the cost of rebuilding after a fire is even higher.

Home rebuilds are on the decline across the entire state, triggered by a combination of contractor shortages, pressures on the rental market and an ever-escalating climate crisis that has become impossible to ignore.

California, which remains mired in an affordable-housing crisis, has seen new construction permits dwindle for the past two years after more than a decade of rebounding steadily after the 2008 recession. New home construction permits reached 120,000 in 2018, then dipped to 110,000 in 2019.

The California Industry Research Board, which monitors construction and permit activity statewide, will publish its 2020 numbers in February but estimates that only 103,670 total housing units were issued last year.

The board doesn’t track when permits are issued for fire-related losses. And “analyzing the effect of California’s wildfires on homebuilding has historically been difficult, as wildfires typically do not enclose themselves in one municipality alone,” Marissa Saldivar, the board’s data journalist intern, wrote in a recent report.

But the statewide decline in rebuilds, coupled with the increase and intensity in fires, points to a clear trend: Faced with the choice of rebuilding or starting afresh, more homeowners than ever before are choosing to cut their losses.

A critical piece of the puzzle? The state is also short on contractors, which means homeowners looking to rebuild can find themselves in limbo for four or even five years.

“Even after the Camp Fire, you’d think we would have seen a spike in the number of permits, and yet we haven’t,” said Dan Dunmoyer, president and chief executive of the California Building Industry Association. “Most big insurance companies will just cut you a big check, and you can be sitting there looking at a check for $900,000. And you talk to contractors and they say: ‘Sure, I can build you a home, but I’m backed up for a year and a half.’ So we’re seeing a lot people just cut and run.”

There is one exception: Rebuilds are holding steady where the land is particularly valuable, as it was in 2018 when the devastating Woolsey Fire tore through Malibu, one of the Los Angeles area's most exclusive cliffside hideaways. Three people were killed. The entire city was evacuated, and 650 of its multimillion-dollar homes, including those belonging to Miley Cyrus, Gerard Butler and Robin Thicke, were vanquished, but today more than one-third of those homes have rebuild permits (in Paradise, the number stands at just over 10%).

“Rebuilding after a fire is sort of like someone who gets a shark bite and still goes back and surfs,” said Michael Nourmand, president of the Los Angeles real estate brokerage Nourmand &amp; Associates. “But people in LA have a short memory. Most people are planning to rebuild.”

It’s always easier to indulge an urge to rebuild, however, if you have deep pockets. California in 2008 enforced strict fire-safe building codes, which require reinforced roofs made of brick, masonry or concrete; walls that can withstand high temperatures; and landscaping that is free of highly flammable flora. In 2011, the state also required all single-family homes to be equipped with sprinkler systems. These codes can increase costs by $20,000 or more for homeowners looking to rebuild a pre-2008 home.

Homeowners who do choose to rebuild must enter the rental market while waiting it out, putting pressure on a housing system where prices are already inflated and demand far outstrips supply. And the state’s most vulnerable residents inevitably suffer the domino effects. California’s homelessness numbers rose 16% in 2019 and have now swelled to more than 150,000 of its residents. Because of COVID-19, those numbers are expected to rise.

“When thousands of homes burn down, those people are pushed elsewhere, which pushes rental prices up. That means affordable housing also goes up and housing insecurity goes by the wayside,” said James Ryan, president of Time for Homes, a nonprofit dedicated to eliminating chronic homelessness.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s eviction moratorium, meant to protect tenants from losing their homes because of hardships during the COVID-19 pandemic, expires Feb. 1. But some reports point to evictions rising during the pandemic, despite the moratorium.

“There are always people who get lost in the shuffle,” Ryan said. “There are forced evictions, and those people will be looking for other housing, just as people who have lost homes from fire will be looking for temporary housing too. You have more and more people looking for fewer and fewer homes.”

The crunch is causing a population shift to California’s more rural enclaves. In tiny El Dorado County, east of Sacramento, sales in 2020 were up 28% (compared with a small decline in Sacramento).

But it’s the Inland Empire, the swath of Riverside and San Bernardino counties that sits inland and adjacent to Los Angeles, that is the fastest-growing sector of the state, and it has largely been spared the megafires that have raged through many of the state’s major metropolitan areas, including San Diego, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, over the last two decades. COVID-19, which has prompted an upsizing, exurban surge, has only increased this trend.

The median home price in Riverside County in November was $490,000; in San Bernardino County it was $380,250. That’s a fraction of Orange County’s median, which was $930,000; Los Angeles County, meanwhile, saw a median of $664,160. And in the Inland Empire, job growth is strong — for fire-stricken families staring at insurance checks and weighing their options, Dunmoyer said, heading east presents an appealing option.

But it’s also impossible to pinpoint cause and effect.

“We’ve been seeing a lot of movement toward areas like the Inland Empire, and also out in Joshua Tree and Palm Springs. It’s difficult to say how much is flight away from fire risk and how much is just movement toward affordability. It’s been happening since about 2010,” Dunmoyer said.

But moving away from fire risk isn’t a viable option for everyone, especially not in a state already facing an extreme housing shortfall.

Since the Camp Fire, Singer and his wife, Shannon, have been renting an apartment in Chico, about 20 miles away, while navigating the various headaches — insurance, zoning, construction, planning — to rebuild their home. They have also started a nonprofit, Paradise Stronger, which utilizes their background in fitness coaching to bring mental health care to residents coping with trauma from the disaster.

At first, they were committed to being part of Paradise’s ambitious recovery plan to rebuild the entire city from scratch, which includes more parks and green space, fire-safe landscaping, and improved evacuation routes and warning systems.

But then came the 2020 fire season, which pushed new hellish vocabulary into the lexicon — “megafires,” “hot drought.” Fire-whipping winds, which force preventive power shut-offs, are now standard practice. In October, the Singers found themselves once again evacuating their land, except this time, the fire was both on its way and had already had its feast.

“This time around, the area that got evacuated first was exactly where our home would have been,” Singer, 43, said. “All you could see was smoke. The PTSD was rampant.”

His wife decided she had had enough.

“She turned to me and said, ‘I’m not sure I want to rebuild. I’m not sure this is where I want to be anymore,’” Singer said. For his part, he says, he would be willing to stick it out — but not at the expense of his relationship.

“I see the vision of this town, and I want to be a part of that, but not if it means my marriage,” Singer said.

For now, the couple have hit the pause button on their rebuild plans. If they do move forward, they’re also looking at spending $100,000 out of pocket. Their rebuild plans are for a smaller but more fire-safe home on the same property, and the estimated cost is $250,000. They received $145,000 for the structure that burned; like nearly 60% of American households, they learned after the fact that they were vastly underinsured.

Many insurers have also abandoned policies altogether in areas deemed too high a risk: The California Department of Insurance in October reported that refusals from home insurers to renew policies rose by 31% statewide in 2019, and that percentage jumped to 61% in ZIP codes with an elevated fire risk.

A handful of new developments have responded by incorporating new resilience protocols into their building strategies in areas well acquainted with wildfire. In Southern California, Rancho Mission Viejo, which is in the southern part of Orange County and is the largest new community in the state, has been in development since 2001 on 23,000 acres of open space. When completed, it will provide 14,000 homes (including 6,000 homes for 55-plus residents), and its development plans stipulate that 75% of that open space be preserved.

Fire resilience is a tenet of the construction, and the community implemented many wildfire resistance tactics long before they became state and local requirements. The community was recently highlighted in a report by the Urban Land Institute (as was the entire town of Paradise, whose rebuild, the report said, could serve as a template for other wildfire-affected communities).

Each neighborhood in Rancho Mission Viejo is surrounded by a 110-foot-wide fuel modification zone — a strip of land where combustible vegetation has been replaced with fire-resistant plants. Certain plant species are prohibited. Construction materials are noncombustible; automatic fire sprinklers were mandatory in every home well before the California law changed in 2011. And the added cost is now negligible; when construction began, those fire-safe modifications were adding between $4,000 and $10,000 to the bottom line of each home, compared with a comparable-size new home in the area, but have since dipped to as low as $1,000.

Jay Bullock, Rancho Mission Viejo’s vice president for planning and entitlement, said that is because fire-safe methods, once considered radical, have become more commonplace.

“The market has caught up,” he said.

And in a state where livable space is at a premium, building safely in high fire hazard zones is the key to a sustainable future, said Mike Balsamo, Rancho Mission Viejo’s senior vice president for governmental relations.

“There is a playbook,” he said. “We can create the most fire-safe community possible.”

The day Paradise burned, Aaron Singer was a skeptic. Then he saw the flames in his rearview mirror. This was November 2018, and the Camp Fire, the most destructive wildfire in California history, was making swift and smoky headway through the Sierra Nevada foothills.

The day Paradise burned, Aaron Singer was a skeptic. Then he saw the flames in his rearview mirror. This was November 2018, and the Camp Fire, the most destructive wildfire in California history, was making swift and smoky headway through the Sierra Nevada foothills. It took less than four hours to rip through this town of 26,000 residents, reducing schools, businesses and 11,000 homes into piles of smoldering ash. When Singer got the evacuation order, he thought it was another false alarm. But he peeled out of his driveway as flames licked his yard, making it out of town with minutes to spare. Paradise was lost. Eighty-five people died, and more than 90% of its population was driven out. Two years later, about 4,000 residents have returned to its scorched earth to lay new foundations and test fate once again. Singer is among them. Now he is having second thoughts. For decades in this chaparral-covered ecosystem, it has been a ritual: After the burn comes the rebuild. But as the nation’s most populous state stares down a seething climate crisis, one that cranked temperatures into triple digits last fall and set off a series of infernos that exploded into bone-dry air, the rebuilding process is beginning to look different. California has battled dual crises, with the largest wildfire season on record breaking out in the midst of the pandemic. At the close of 2020, as millions of Californians were put under a second lockdown in a bid to quell a massive second surge in COVID-19 cases, more than 4.2 million acres of the state had been scorched by nearly 10,000 fires. But in many ways, the crises have split the state into two: Northern California continues to reel from multiple megafires, including the August Complex Fire and the SCU Lightning Complex Fire that exploded in late summer. And in Southern California, Los Angeles is now the epicenter of the pandemic, leading the nation both in confirmed cases and number of deaths. In the midst of this, a historic housing shortage and low interest rates have pushed California’s home prices to record highs. In August, the median cost of a single-family home in the state crossed $700,000; in September it climbed further. And while the cost of new homes is on the rise, many homeowners are finding the cost of rebuilding after a fire is even higher. Home rebuilds are on the decline across the entire state, triggered by a combination of contractor shortages, pressures on the rental market and an ever-escalating climate crisis that has become impossible to ignore. California, which remains mired in an affordable-housing crisis, has seen new construction permits dwindle for the past two years after more than a decade of rebounding steadily after the 2008 recession. New home construction permits reached 120,000 in 2018, then dipped to 110,000 in 2019. The California Industry Research Board, which monitors construction and permit activity statewide, will publish its 2020 numbers in February but estimates that only 103,670 total housing units were issued last year. The board doesn’t track when permits are issued for fire-related losses. And “analyzing the effect of California’s wildfires on homebuilding has historically been difficult, as wildfires typically do not enclose themselves in one municipality alone,” Marissa Saldivar, the board’s data journalist intern, wrote in a recent report. But the statewide decline in rebuilds, coupled with the increase and intensity in fires, points to a clear trend: Faced with the choice of rebuilding or starting afresh, more homeowners than ever before are choosing to cut their losses. A critical piece of the puzzle? The state is also short on contractors, which means homeowners looking to rebuild can find themselves in limbo for four or even five years. “Even after the Camp Fire, you’d think we would have seen a spike in the number of permits, and yet we haven’t,” said Dan Dunmoyer, president and chief executive of the California Building Industry Association. “Most big insurance companies will just cut you a big check, and you can be sitting there looking at a check for $900,000. And you talk to contractors and they say: ‘Sure, I can build you a home, but I’m backed up for a year and a half.’ So we’re seeing a lot people just cut and run.” There is one exception: Rebuilds are holding steady where the land is particularly valuable, as it was in 2018 when the devastating Woolsey Fire tore through Malibu, one of the Los Angeles area's most exclusive cliffside hideaways. Three people were killed. The entire city was evacuated, and 650 of its multimillion-dollar homes, including those belonging to Miley Cyrus, Gerard Butler and Robin Thicke, were vanquished, but today more than one-third of those homes have rebuild permits (in Paradise, the number stands at just over 10%). “Rebuilding after a fire is sort of like someone who gets a shark bite and still goes back and surfs,” said Michael Nourmand, president of the Los Angeles real estate brokerage Nourmand & Associates. “But people in LA have a short memory. Most people are planning to rebuild.” It’s always easier to indulge an urge to rebuild, however, if you have deep pockets. California in 2008 enforced strict fire-safe building codes, which require reinforced roofs made of brick, masonry or concrete; walls that can withstand high temperatures; and landscaping that is free of highly flammable flora. In 2011, the state also required all single-family homes to be equipped with sprinkler systems. These codes can increase costs by $20,000 or more for homeowners looking to rebuild a pre-2008 home. Homeowners who do choose to rebuild must enter the rental market while waiting it out, putting pressure on a housing system where prices are already inflated and demand far outstrips supply. And the state’s most vulnerable residents inevitably suffer the domino effects. California’s homelessness numbers rose 16% in 2019 and have now swelled to more than 150,000 of its residents. Because of COVID-19, those numbers are expected to rise. “When thousands of homes burn down, those people are pushed elsewhere, which pushes rental prices up. That means affordable housing also goes up and housing insecurity goes by the wayside,” said James Ryan, president of Time for Homes, a nonprofit dedicated to eliminating chronic homelessness. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s eviction moratorium, meant to protect tenants from losing their homes because of hardships during the COVID-19 pandemic, expires Feb. 1. But some reports point to evictions rising during the pandemic, despite the moratorium. “There are always people who get lost in the shuffle,” Ryan said. “There are forced evictions, and those people will be looking for other housing, just as people who have lost homes from fire will be looking for temporary housing too. You have more and more people looking for fewer and fewer homes.” The crunch is causing a population shift to California’s more rural enclaves. In tiny El Dorado County, east of Sacramento, sales in 2020 were up 28% (compared with a small decline in Sacramento). But it’s the Inland Empire, the swath of Riverside and San Bernardino counties that sits inland and adjacent to Los Angeles, that is the fastest-growing sector of the state, and it has largely been spared the megafires that have raged through many of the state’s major metropolitan areas, including San Diego, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, over the last two decades. COVID-19, which has prompted an upsizing, exurban surge, has only increased this trend. The median home price in Riverside County in November was $490,000; in San Bernardino County it was $380,250. That’s a fraction of Orange County’s median, which was $930,000; Los Angeles County, meanwhile, saw a median of $664,160. And in the Inland Empire, job growth is strong — for fire-stricken families staring at insurance checks and weighing their options, Dunmoyer said, heading east presents an appealing option. But it’s also impossible to pinpoint cause and effect. “We’ve been seeing a lot of movement toward areas like the Inland Empire, and also out in Joshua Tree and Palm Springs. It’s difficult to say how much is flight away from fire risk and how much is just movement toward affordability. It’s been happening since about 2010,” Dunmoyer said. But moving away from fire risk isn’t a viable option for everyone, especially not in a state already facing an extreme housing shortfall. Since the Camp Fire, Singer and his wife, Shannon, have been renting an apartment in Chico, about 20 miles away, while navigating the various headaches — insurance, zoning, construction, planning — to rebuild their home. They have also started a nonprofit, Paradise Stronger, which utilizes their background in fitness coaching to bring mental health care to residents coping with trauma from the disaster. At first, they were committed to being part of Paradise’s ambitious recovery plan to rebuild the entire city from scratch, which includes more parks and green space, fire-safe landscaping, and improved evacuation routes and warning systems. But then came the 2020 fire season, which pushed new hellish vocabulary into the lexicon — “megafires,” “hot drought.” Fire-whipping winds, which force preventive power shut-offs, are now standard practice. In October, the Singers found themselves once again evacuating their land, except this time, the fire was both on its way and had already had its feast. “This time around, the area that got evacuated first was exactly where our home would have been,” Singer, 43, said. “All you could see was smoke. The PTSD was rampant.” His wife decided she had had enough. “She turned to me and said, ‘I’m not sure I want to rebuild. I’m not sure this is where I want to be anymore,’” Singer said. For his part, he says, he would be willing to stick it out — but not at the expense of his relationship. “I see the vision of this town, and I want to be a part of that, but not if it means my marriage,” Singer said. For now, the couple have hit the pause button on their rebuild plans. If they do move forward, they’re also looking at spending $100,000 out of pocket. Their rebuild plans are for a smaller but more fire-safe home on the same property, and the estimated cost is $250,000. They received $145,000 for the structure that burned; like nearly 60% of American households, they learned after the fact that they were vastly underinsured. Many insurers have also abandoned policies altogether in areas deemed too high a risk: The California Department of Insurance in October reported that refusals from home insurers to renew policies rose by 31% statewide in 2019, and that percentage jumped to 61% in ZIP codes with an elevated fire risk. A handful of new developments have responded by incorporating new resilience protocols into their building strategies in areas well acquainted with wildfire. In Southern California, Rancho Mission Viejo, which is in the southern part of Orange County and is the largest new community in the state, has been in development since 2001 on 23,000 acres of open space. When completed, it will provide 14,000 homes (including 6,000 homes for 55-plus residents), and its development plans stipulate that 75% of that open space be preserved. Fire resilience is a tenet of the construction, and the community implemented many wildfire resistance tactics long before they became state and local requirements. The community was recently highlighted in a report by the Urban Land Institute (as was the entire town of Paradise, whose rebuild, the report said, could serve as a template for other wildfire-affected communities). Each neighborhood in Rancho Mission Viejo is surrounded by a 110-foot-wide fuel modification zone — a strip of land where combustible vegetation has been replaced with fire-resistant plants. Certain plant species are prohibited. Construction materials are noncombustible; automatic fire sprinklers were mandatory in every home well before the California law changed in 2011. And the added cost is now negligible; when construction began, those fire-safe modifications were adding between $4,000 and $10,000 to the bottom line of each home, compared with a comparable-size new home in the area, but have since dipped to as low as $1,000. Jay Bullock, Rancho Mission Viejo’s vice president for planning and entitlement, said that is because fire-safe methods, once considered radical, have become more commonplace. “The market has caught up,” he said. And in a state where livable space is at a premium, building safely in high fire hazard zones is the key to a sustainable future, said Mike Balsamo, Rancho Mission Viejo’s senior vice president for governmental relations. “There is a playbook,” he said. “We can create the most fire-safe community possible.”

Hounded by wildfires, Californians rethink their willingness to rebuild

Wildfires raged in Chile's Valparaiso region on Friday (January 15), turning the sky red and forcing the evacuation of thousands of people from their homes.

Thousands evacuate as wildfires turn the sky red in Chile

The year 2020 started with massive wildfires in Australia that caused severe destruction and in 2021 the grim is back again, but this time India.

Nagaland's pristine Dzukou Valley is on fire and its unique flora and fauna are at risk.&nbsp;

Nearly 30 kms from Nagaland's capital Kohima, the valley is popular trekking for tourists.&nbsp;

Watch |&nbsp;

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-fire-in-nagalands-dzukou-valley-354471/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

The fire is said to have started on the afternoon of December 29.&nbsp;

Since then, gusty winds have fuelled the raging inferno.&nbsp;

Emergency forces have since then jumped into action, helicopters have been deployed, camps have been set up at ground zero and over 200 firefighters are battling the blaze.&nbsp;

Visuals from the valley showed an IAF helicopter refilling a Bambi bucket with an approximate capacity of 3,500 litres to help douse the blaze.&nbsp;

This exercise is often used to extinguish the blazes.&nbsp;

However, the fire continues to rage and now spreading to the neighbouring state of Manipur.&nbsp;

The valley that is known for its biodiversity is seeing severe damage in its rich flora and fauna.&nbsp;

The focus is on the Dzukou Lilly and Blyth's Tragopan, the state bird of Nagaland, both of which are one of the major attraction sources for tourists.&nbsp;

Blyth's Tragopan that often falls prey to hunters is now facing an existential threat by the massive blazes.&nbsp;

The cause of fires is unknown, but several people blame humans for the devastation.&nbsp;

In 2006, the valley witnessed a similar scene which led to around 20 km of vegetation being reduced to ashes.&nbsp;

The cause of concern is the destruction could be worse this time.&nbsp;

The year 2020 started with massive wildfires in Australia that caused severe destruction and in 2021 the grim is back again, but this time India. Nagaland's pristine Dzukou Valley is on fire and its unique flora and fauna are at risk.

The year 2020 started with massive wildfires in Australia that caused severe destruction and in 2021 the grim is back again, but this time India. Nagaland's pristine Dzukou Valley is on fire and its unique flora and fauna are at risk. Nearly 30 kms from Nagaland's capital Kohima, the valley is popular trekking for tourists. Watch | The fire is said to have started on the afternoon of December 29. Since then, gusty winds have fuelled the raging inferno. Emergency forces have since then jumped into action, helicopters have been deployed, camps have been set up at ground zero and over 200 firefighters are battling the blaze. Visuals from the valley showed an IAF helicopter refilling a Bambi bucket with an approximate capacity of 3,500 litres to help douse the blaze. This exercise is often used to extinguish the blazes. However, the fire continues to rage and now spreading to the neighbouring state of Manipur. The valley that is known for its biodiversity is seeing severe damage in its rich flora and fauna. The focus is on the Dzukou Lilly and Blyth's Tragopan, the state bird of Nagaland, both of which are one of the major attraction sources for tourists. Blyth's Tragopan that often falls prey to hunters is now facing an existential threat by the massive blazes. The cause of fires is unknown, but several people blame humans for the devastation. In 2006, the valley witnessed a similar scene which led to around 20 km of vegetation being reduced to ashes. The cause of concern is the destruction could be worse this time.

Why fires in a Nagaland valley ringing alarm bells

Wildfires continues to sweep across Southern California. The fast-moving blazes critically injured two firefighters and left more than 100,000 under evacuation orders.

Your Story: Fast-moving wildfires prompt evacuations in California

Experts have warned that two wildfires currently raging in the US state of Colorado could merge resulting in one massive blaze.

As firefighters continued to battle the East Troublesome Fire, which erupted on October 14 and has scorched over 170,000 acres since, authorities on Thursday closed the Rocky Mountain National Park, while mandatory evacuations were issued for parts of Estes Park, CNN reported.

As of Thursday night, the blaze, located near Grimes Peak in the Arapaho National Forest, was only 5 per cent contained.

According to the experts, the East Troublesome Fire could now merge with the Cameron Peak Fire, Colorado`s largest wildfire on record, which is about 55 per cent contained.

Meanwhile, other wildfires currently raging in the state includes the Calwood Fire, which has increased to more than 9,900 acres and was 24 per cent contained.

The fire has destroyed at least 26 private residences near the town of Jamestown.

There are currently 61 wildfires raging across the country that have scorched nearly 4 million acres, CNN quoted the National Interagency Fire Center as saying.

At least 17 of those fires are burning in California, 10 in Idaho and five in Colorado.

Other states that have large active blazes include Arizona, Montana, Oregon, Washington state and Wyoming.

Experts have warned that two wildfires currently raging in the US state of Colorado could merge resulting in one massive blaze. As firefighters continued to battle the East Troublesome Fire, which erupted on October 14 and has scorched over 170,000 acres since, authorities on Thursday closed the Rocky Mountain National Park, while mandatory evacuations were issued for parts of Estes Park, CNN reported.

Experts have warned that two wildfires currently raging in the US state of Colorado could merge resulting in one massive blaze. As firefighters continued to battle the East Troublesome Fire, which erupted on October 14 and has scorched over 170,000 acres since, authorities on Thursday closed the Rocky Mountain National Park, while mandatory evacuations were issued for parts of Estes Park, CNN reported. As of Thursday night, the blaze, located near Grimes Peak in the Arapaho National Forest, was only 5 per cent contained. According to the experts, the East Troublesome Fire could now merge with the Cameron Peak Fire, Colorado`s largest wildfire on record, which is about 55 per cent contained. Meanwhile, other wildfires currently raging in the state includes the Calwood Fire, which has increased to more than 9,900 acres and was 24 per cent contained. The fire has destroyed at least 26 private residences near the town of Jamestown. There are currently 61 wildfires raging across the country that have scorched nearly 4 million acres, CNN quoted the National Interagency Fire Center as saying. At least 17 of those fires are burning in California, 10 in Idaho and five in Colorado. Other states that have large active blazes include Arizona, Montana, Oregon, Washington state and Wyoming.

Two wildfires in Colorado could merge, warns experts

Russia on Wednesday evacuated more than 1,000 people from nearby villages after a wildfire set off explosions at a munitions depot in the Ryazan region southeast of Moscow, officials said.

A fire broke out at the depot on Wednesday afternoon at 1340 (1040 GMT) sparked by a wildfire in dry grass nearby, the emergencies ministry said in a statement sent to AFP.

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"As a result, explosions took place," the ministry said, adding that it was sending a fire-fighting train and 100 firefighters to battle the blaze.

Russian media posted witness videos of columns of black smoke rising from the fire and continuous explosions.

"According to preliminary information, more than 1,600 people have been evacuated from 14 settlements," the emergencies ministry said, as its head Yevgeny Zinichev flew to the scene.

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The western military district said its troops had been evacuated after attempting unsuccessfully to fight the fire.

"The personnel and civilian staff have been evacuated. None was injured," the military district said in a statement sent to AFP.

A total of 146 children were evacuated from the nearest village of Zheltukhino, Ryazan's regional administration said.

Such accidents are relatively common in Russia due to large amounts of old munitions remaining in storage.

Russia on Wednesday evacuated more than 1,000 people from nearby villages after a wildfire set off explosions at a munitions depot in the Ryazan region southeast of Moscow, officials said.

Russia on Wednesday evacuated more than 1,000 people from nearby villages after a wildfire set off explosions at a munitions depot in the Ryazan region southeast of Moscow, officials said. A fire broke out at the depot on Wednesday afternoon at 1340 (1040 GMT) sparked by a wildfire in dry grass nearby, the emergencies ministry said in a statement sent to AFP. Also read| Russia tests hypersonic cruise missile on Putin's birthday "As a result, explosions took place," the ministry said, adding that it was sending a fire-fighting train and 100 firefighters to battle the blaze. Russian media posted witness videos of columns of black smoke rising from the fire and continuous explosions. "According to preliminary information, more than 1,600 people have been evacuated from 14 settlements," the emergencies ministry said, as its head Yevgeny Zinichev flew to the scene. Also read| 'Targeted sanctions unavoidable': Germany warns Russia over Navalny poisoning The western military district said its troops had been evacuated after attempting unsuccessfully to fight the fire. "The personnel and civilian staff have been evacuated. None was injured," the military district said in a statement sent to AFP. A total of 146 children were evacuated from the nearest village of Zheltukhino, Ryazan's regional administration said. Such accidents are relatively common in Russia due to large amounts of old munitions remaining in storage.

Russia evacuates villages after munition depot explosions

A northern California wildfire raging in the foothills of the Cascade range has claimed three lives, officials said on Monday, as a separate blaze prompted mass evacuations and spread turmoil to the famed wine-producing regions of Napa and Sonoma counties.

The three fatalities in the so-called Zogg Fire in Shasta County, which erupted on Sunday near Redding, about 200 miles north of San Francisco, were reported by the county sheriff and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire). They were all civilians.

No further details about the victims or how they perished were immediately provided. But the deaths bring to 29 the number of people killed since mid-August in a California wildfire season of historic proportions.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/famed-wine-regions-in-california-destroyed-by-wildfires-thousands-flee-331129" hreflang="en">Famed wine regions in California destroyed by wildfires; thousands flee</a>

The Zogg fire, which has destroyed 146 structures and charred 31,000 acres of grassy hillsides and oak woodlands thick with dry scrub, coincided with the outbreak of another conflagration in the heart of California's wine country north of the Bay area.

That blaze, dubbed the Glass Fire, has spread across 36,000 acres of similar terrain in Napa and Sonoma counties since early Sunday, incinerating more than 100 homes and other buildings, forcing thousands of residents to flee and threatening world-renowned vineyards, according to CalFire.

Both fires were listed at zero containment as of Monday evening. The cause of each was under investigation.

They marked the latest flashpoints in a destructive spate of wildfires this summer across the Western United States.

In California this year, wildfires have scorched 3.7 million acres (1.5 million hectares) since January - far exceeding any single year in state history. They have been stoked by intense, prolonged bouts of heat, high winds and other weather extremes that scientists attribute to climate change.

More than 7,000 homes and other structures have burned statewide so far this year.

LANDMARK CHATEAU BURNS

The Glass Fire broke out in Napa Valley before dawn near Calistoga before merging with two other blazes into a larger eruption of flames straddling western Napa County and an adjacent swath of Sonoma County.

In one notable property loss, the mansion-like Chateau Boswell winery in St. Helena - a familiar landmark along the Silverado Trail road running the length of the Napa Valley - went up in flames on Sunday night.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/wildfire-smoke-from-us-crosses-the-atlantic-ocean-seen-in-parts-of-finland-uk-329412" hreflang="en">Wildfire smoke from US crosses the Atlantic Ocean; seen in parts of Finland, UK</a>

An estimated 60,000 residents have been placed under evacuation orders or advisories in Sonoma and Napa counties combined, but no injuries have been reported.

Not everyone heeded evacuation orders.

As neighbors around him fled, Santa Rosa resident Jas Sihota perched himself on his front porch with a garden hose, darting out every 15 minutes or so to douse nearby spot fires seeded by wind-blown embers under a hazy red sun.

Sihota, a radiology technician at a nearby hospital, said he had not slept in some 24 hours.

"I wouldn't have a house if I didn't stay," said Sihota. At least 10 homes elsewhere on the street beyond the reach of his hose were destroyed.

In 2017, roughly 5% of Santa Rosa's homes were lost when downed power lines sparked a devastating firestorm in October that swept the region, killing 19 people.

HARVEST SEASON SMOKE

The Glass Fire struck about midway through the region's traditional grape-harvesting season, already disrupted by a spate of large fires earlier this summer.

Several Napa Valley growers said recently they would forgo a 2020 vintage altogether due to smoke contamination of ripening grapes waiting to be picked.

The 475 vintners in Napa Valley alone account for just 4% of the state's grape harvest but half the retail value of all California wines sold. Sonoma County, too, has become a premiere viticulture region with some 450 wineries and a million acres of vineyards.

The full impact on the region's wine business remains to be seen and will differ for each grower, depending on how far along they are in the harvest, said Teresa Wall, spokeswoman for the Napa Valley Vintners trade group.

"There are some who were close to wrapping up, and some who were still planning to leave their grapes hanging out there for a while," she said.

The fires caused major upheavals for the area's most vulnerable residents already grappling with the coronavirus pandemic.

The Adventist Health St. Helena hospital was forced to evacuate patients on Sunday, the second time in a month following a lightning-sparked wildfire in August.

On Monday, residents at Oakmont Gardens, a Santa Rosa retirement community, leaned on walkers and waited to board a bus taking them to safety, their face masks doubling as protection against smoke and COVID-19.

Over 100,000 homes and business have suffered power outages across northern California since Sunday, some from precautionary shutoffs of transmission lines to reduce wildfire risks in the midst of extremely windy, hot, dry weather, Pacific Gas and Electric Co reported.

Red-flag warnings for extreme wildfire risks remained posted for much of Northern California, forecasting low humidity and gale-force wind gusts.

A northern California wildfire raging in the foothills of the Cascade range has claimed three lives, officials said on Monday, as a separate blaze prompted mass evacuations and spread turmoil to the famed wine-producing regions of Napa and Sonoma counties.

A northern California wildfire raging in the foothills of the Cascade range has claimed three lives, officials said on Monday, as a separate blaze prompted mass evacuations and spread turmoil to the famed wine-producing regions of Napa and Sonoma counties. The three fatalities in the so-called Zogg Fire in Shasta County, which erupted on Sunday near Redding, about 200 miles north of San Francisco, were reported by the county sheriff and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire). They were all civilians. No further details about the victims or how they perished were immediately provided. But the deaths bring to 29 the number of people killed since mid-August in a California wildfire season of historic proportions. Also read: Famed wine regions in California destroyed by wildfires; thousands flee The Zogg fire, which has destroyed 146 structures and charred 31,000 acres of grassy hillsides and oak woodlands thick with dry scrub, coincided with the outbreak of another conflagration in the heart of California's wine country north of the Bay area. That blaze, dubbed the Glass Fire, has spread across 36,000 acres of similar terrain in Napa and Sonoma counties since early Sunday, incinerating more than 100 homes and other buildings, forcing thousands of residents to flee and threatening world-renowned vineyards, according to CalFire. Both fires were listed at zero containment as of Monday evening. The cause of each was under investigation. They marked the latest flashpoints in a destructive spate of wildfires this summer across the Western United States. In California this year, wildfires have scorched 3.7 million acres (1.5 million hectares) since January - far exceeding any single year in state history. They have been stoked by intense, prolonged bouts of heat, high winds and other weather extremes that scientists attribute to climate change. More than 7,000 homes and other structures have burned statewide so far this year. LANDMARK CHATEAU BURNS The Glass Fire broke out in Napa Valley before dawn near Calistoga before merging with two other blazes into a larger eruption of flames straddling western Napa County and an adjacent swath of Sonoma County. In one notable property loss, the mansion-like Chateau Boswell winery in St. Helena - a familiar landmark along the Silverado Trail road running the length of the Napa Valley - went up in flames on Sunday night. Also read: Wildfire smoke from US crosses the Atlantic Ocean; seen in parts of Finland, UK An estimated 60,000 residents have been placed under evacuation orders or advisories in Sonoma and Napa counties combined, but no injuries have been reported. Not everyone heeded evacuation orders. As neighbors around him fled, Santa Rosa resident Jas Sihota perched himself on his front porch with a garden hose, darting out every 15 minutes or so to douse nearby spot fires seeded by wind-blown embers under a hazy red sun. Sihota, a radiology technician at a nearby hospital, said he had not slept in some 24 hours. "I wouldn't have a house if I didn't stay," said Sihota. At least 10 homes elsewhere on the street beyond the reach of his hose were destroyed. In 2017, roughly 5% of Santa Rosa's homes were lost when downed power lines sparked a devastating firestorm in October that swept the region, killing 19 people. HARVEST SEASON SMOKE The Glass Fire struck about midway through the region's traditional grape-harvesting season, already disrupted by a spate of large fires earlier this summer. Several Napa Valley growers said recently they would forgo a 2020 vintage altogether due to smoke contamination of ripening grapes waiting to be picked. The 475 vintners in Napa Valley alone account for just 4% of the state's grape harvest but half the retail value of all California wines sold. Sonoma County, too, has become a premiere viticulture region with some 450 wineries and a million acres of vineyards. The full impact on the region's wine business remains to be seen and will differ for each grower, depending on how far along they are in the harvest, said Teresa Wall, spokeswoman for the Napa Valley Vintners trade group. "There are some who were close to wrapping up, and some who were still planning to leave their grapes hanging out there for a while," she said. The fires caused major upheavals for the area's most vulnerable residents already grappling with the coronavirus pandemic. The Adventist Health St. Helena hospital was forced to evacuate patients on Sunday, the second time in a month following a lightning-sparked wildfire in August. On Monday, residents at Oakmont Gardens, a Santa Rosa retirement community, leaned on walkers and waited to board a bus taking them to safety, their face masks doubling as protection against smoke and COVID-19. Over 100,000 homes and business have suffered power outages across northern California since Sunday, some from precautionary shutoffs of transmission lines to reduce wildfire risks in the midst of extremely windy, hot, dry weather, Pacific Gas and Electric Co reported. Red-flag warnings for extreme wildfire risks remained posted for much of Northern California, forecasting low humidity and gale-force wind gusts.

Northern California wildfires kill 3, force evacuation of thousands

wildfire

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