Wildfires

Wildfires - California, USA

California firefighters battled through the night to contain a fast-moving wildfire driven by high winds that was threatening to engulf thousands of buildings. Around 40 000 people were told to flee the Tick Fire, which was raging across 1,600 hectares just north of Los Angeles. The blaze broke out early on Thursday afternoon, burning several homes and structures and forcing the closure of a major highway and a number of roads, as some 500 firefighters backed by air tankers and helicopters battled the flames. There were no immediate reports of injury.

Wildfires - Mexico

Mexican authorities say three people have died in wind-whipped wildfires in the northwestern state of Baja California. Mexico’s civil defense agency said Friday that fires near Tecate, near Tijuana and between the coastal towns of Rosarito and Ensenada had forced 1,645 people to evacuate their homes. One of the fires closed the coastal highway north of Ensenada for several hours. Another, near Tecate, burned more than 35,000 acres (about 14,200 hectares).

Wildfires - Australia

Three fires on the NSW north coast, at Tuncurry, Darawank and Mount George, were at emergency levels but have since been downgraded to Watch and Act. Approximately 70 other fires are burning uncontrolled through the state. At least two properties have been lost in the fires.