Wildfires

Wildfires - Colorado, USA

Several wildfires in Colorado, totaling more than 35,000 acres burned, remain active as firefighters work to control and extinguish the blazes.

The biggest blaze, the Beaver Creek fire, has burned 20,981 acres in northern Colorado along the Wyoming state line about 24 miles north of Walden, according to state and federal fire officials.

The Hayden Pass fire continues to burn in the Colorado mountains about 20 miles southeast of Salida. It has scorched 14,788 acres and remains active.

The Cold Springs fire is burning in Boulder County about 2 miles northeast of Nederland. It started Saturday on private property, has burned more than 528 acres and is 100 percent contained. At least eight homes have been torched, and about 1,000 residents were forced to evacuate.

Wildfires - France and Spain

In the south of France, 3,000 holidaymakers in Torreilles were evacuated on Wednesday after strong winds whipped up a wildfire and more than 20 bungalows were destroyed. The fire had been fully extinguished by Thursday morning.

In southern Spain, hundreds of residents and tourists were evacuated from the resort town of La Linea in the Costa del Sol on Tuesday.

Wildfires - Alaska, USA

Thousands of lightning strikes have sparked dozens of new wildfires across Interior Alaska over the last two days, the Alaska Division of Forestry reports.

Forestry officials say as many as 7,200 lightning strikes were reported in the region on Wednesday and another 11,000 as of 4 p.m. on Thursday. In the area around McGrath, as many as 30 new fires were reported over the course of today and yesterday, but many of those are burning in remote areas that do not require a firefighting response, DoF said.