An unrelenting wildfire fanned by hot, dry Santa Ana winds yesterday threatened more than 12,000 homes in and around Ventura, California, forcing thousands of people to race for safety.
The fire, dubbed the Thomas Fire, raged in the foothills above and in the city of Ventura about 80km northwest of Los Angeles, fire officials said late on Tuesday, a day after it began.
It had charred more than 20,000 hectares, they said.
Photo: AFP
“We are still in the middle of an aggressive and active firefight on the ground,” Ventura Fire Department spokesman Robert Welsbie said. “If the winds pick up, we will face quite a challenge.”
The fire, which was zero percent contained, was being whipped by unpredictable Santa Ana winds, which blow in from the California desert. Wind gusts were forecast to top out at 115kph yesterday and remain strong through the week.
There were no immediate reports of fatalities or civilian casualties, Welsbie said.
“The public did an outstanding job heeding our evacuation orders, getting out of these danger zones in a very prompt timely manner,” Welsbie said.
About 1,000 firefighters were battling to save homes from the conflagration. One firefighter suffered a minor injury, was treated and released, Welsbie said.
California Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency, freeing state funds and resources to assist.
More than 250,000 homes were without power, utilities said.
All schools in the Ventura Unified School District canceled classes for yesterday.
The Thomas Fire was the largest of several large blazes that broke out across southern California following the onset of the Santa Ana winds.
In the San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles, the Creek Fire had blackened more than 4,400 hectares and forced the evacuation of 2,500 homes and a convalescent center north of Interstate 210.
The highway remained open even as other roads were closed, officials said.
Three firefighters were injured and taken to a hospital, where they were in stable condition, the Los Angeles Fire Department said on its Web site.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti declared a state of emergency in the city, while 11 Los Angeles Unified schools canceled classes yesterday.
About 30 structures were destroyed by the Creek Fire as of Tuesday evening, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.
A Zurich city councilor has apologized and reportedly sought police protection against threats after she fired a sport pistol at an auction poster of a 14th-century Madonna and child painting, and posted images of their bullet-ridden faces on social media. Green-Liberal party official Sanija Ameti, 32, put the images on Instagram over the weekend before quickly pulling them down. She later wrote on social media that she had been practicing shots from about 10m and only found the poster as “big enough” for a suitable target. “I apologize to the people who were hurt by my post. I deleted it immediately when I
The governor of Ohio is to send law enforcement and millions of dollars in healthcare resources to the city of Springfield as it faces a surge in temporary Haitian migrants. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Tuesday said that he does not oppose the Temporary Protected Status program under which about 15,000 Haitians have arrived in the city of about 59,000 people since 2020, but said the federal government must do more to help affected communities. On Monday, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost directed his office to research legal avenues — including filing a lawsuit — to stop the federal government from sending
At first, Francis Ari Sture thought a human was trying to shove him down the steep Norwegian mountainside. Then he saw the golden eagle land. “We are staring at each other for, maybe, a whole minute,” Sture said on Monday. “I’m trying to think what’s in its mind.” The bird then attacked Sture five more times on Thursday last week, scratching and clawing the 31-year-old bicycle courier’s face and arms over 10 to 15 minutes as he sprinted down the mountain. The same eagle is believed to be responsible for attacks on three other people across a vast mountainous area of southern Norway
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is to visit Russia next month for a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said on Thursday, a move that comes as Moscow and Beijing seek to counter the West’s global influence. Xi’s visit to Russia would be his second since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed the Kremlin’s contentions that Russia’s action was provoked by the West, and it continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for
RSS