Wildfires

Wildfires - USA

Firefighters are spending the weekend battling several wildfires in California, New Mexico and Arizona.

A wildfire is burning nearly 12 square miles in the San Mateo Mountains near Magdalena, which is about 100 miles southwest of Albuquerque. The fire was caused by lightning and is 20 percent contained.

In Arizona, firefighters are battling a much larger blaze. The Juniper Fire just south of the town of Young is now burning on over 28 square miles in the Tonto National Forest. That fire is also 20 percent contained and was caused by lightning.

Brush fires fed by a heat wave and tinder-dry conditions tore through the suburban hills north of Los Angeles on Saturday night, chasing hundreds of residents from their homes. Fire crews fought at least two blazes separated by only a few miles in West Hills and Calabasas, two suburbs above the San Fernando Valley.

Wildfires - Guatemala

Guatemala's government on Saturday declared a state of catastrophe in the northern province of Peten, the cradle of Mayan civilization and one of the last green lungs of the Americas, due to wildfires that have destroyed 8,000 hectares (31 sq. miles) and put an additional 200,000 hectares (772 sq. miles) at risk.

At least 100 forest fires have been detected in Peten, a province with an area of 35,854 sq. kilometres (13,840 sq. miles) that borders Mexico and Belize