International News

LOS ANGELES, July 11 (APP/AFP) – More than a
dozen wildfires were raging across California on Monday, forcing thousands of residents of the most populous US state to flee their homes.
Further to the north, the Canadian province of British Columbia was
under a state of emergency as fire crews there also battled blazes fueled by searing temperatures and high winds.
The worst of the brush fires in California was the Alamo fire in San
Luis Obispo County, which had burned nearly 29,000 acres (117 square kilometers) as of Monday morning, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection known as Cal Fire.
More than 1,200 fire personnel were battling the Alamo blaze, Cal
Fire said, adding that hot and dry conditions were expected to continue for the next several days and the inferno has been only 15 percent contained so far.
The California fires have forced the evacuation of around 8,000
people while another 10,000 have fled their homes in British Columbia, Canada’s westernmost province, where around 200 blazes of varying degrees of intensity have been reported.
The Alamo fire, which began four days ago, has spread to Santa
Barbara County, approximately midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles, and is currently the state’s largest active fire, according to Cal Fire.
Fire containment efforts were particularly aimed at guarding mountain
peaks holding vital infrastructure such as a high-voltage line that delivers power to nearby cities, according to the Los Angeles Times newspaper.