Wildfires

A Dangerous Wildfire is Ripping Through Southern California
A wildfire that started in Angeles National Forest has scorched a wide portion of the area and is now threatening a large suburban area.

What causes Forest Fires
Forest fire refers to the uncontrolled fire that erupts in the wilderness. It can be caused by many factors like lightning, volcanic eruptions and also human actions. Learn more about forest fires and what causes them...

Wildfire Threatens Myrtle Beach Resort Area in South Carolina
In what must be considered a rather rare occurrence, a wildfire is destroying homes and forcing thousands to evacuate in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

New Australian Wildfires Start to Spread, Old Ones Re-ignite
With a recent rise in temperatures, some of the fires that had ravaged Australia earlier this month have started to spread again and new areas are being threatened.

What Causes Wildfires
Wildfires are often regarded as a natural hazard, due to the fact that they not only pose a threat to life and property, but also cause environmental pollution. To know about the causes of wildfires, read on...

Death Toll in Australian Wildfires Above 150
Arson is suspected and the Prime Minister has referred to the event as mass murder as wildfires that appear to have been intentionally set rage through parts of Australia.

California Wildfires Hitting Southern California Hard
California wildfires, which began in Montecito last Thursday, were still doing damage on Sunday despite all out efforts to stem the tide of damage.

New Northern California Fires Ignite as Temperatures Flare
Already exhausted from fighting hundreds of fires in northern California since June 20, firefighters are pushed to the extreme as new fires take hold amid scorching temperatures.

California’s Lightning Fires Barely Contained
Though media outlets report that progress is being made against more than 800 separate wildfires burning in northern California, only a quarter have been contained.

California Wildfires
Every year there are several California wildfires. Some information regarding those that occured in 2007 has been furnished in the article. The expert opinion of Southern California fires has also been included.

California Wildfires Compared to Hurricane Katrina Disaster
The raging wildfires in southern California are being compared to the Hurricane Katrina catastrophe: some say lessons learned from the past have helped improve state and federal responses to natural disasters.

Fire Officials Say Deadly California Wildfire Intentionally Set
Fire officials believe a fire that has burned thousands of acres in California and killed three firefighters was set on purpose in the middle of the night.

Wildfires: Pointing Fingers as the Fires Rage On
The wildfires that are decimating thousands of square miles of the western U.S. may be more devastating than Mother Nature intended.

Thousands Ordered to Flee Homes As Wildfires Sweep Into Los Angeles
State of emergency declared in Los Angeles a day after 111 homes burned to the ground

California Wildfire Chars Montecito Luxury Belt
Firefighters expect blaze to resurge after 100 homes were consumed in original outbreak

California Fires Leave Two Dead and Dozens of Homes Wrecked
Two thousand firefighters battle through the night as wildfires approach Pacific coast

Two Reported Dead in California Wildfires
Firefighters continue to battle major wildfires which have destroyed dozens of homes

Two Reported Dead in Californian Fires
Firefighters were battling two blazes 20 miles north-east of downtown Los Angeles last night, almost exactly a year after a series of wildfires swept southern California

Are The California Wildfires Of 2007 Burning Homeowners Twice?
Weak housing markets are causing the California wildfire victims to rethink how they will rebuild their homes. Insurance claims are less than expected, yet the construction costs to rebuild are higher than ever.

Wildfire In California
The latest fire in San Diego County, in Southern California, burned 400,000 acres of land reducing 1300 homes to the ground. The President declared a state of emergency and mass evacuation was forces as the fire spread across San Diego, Long Beach, Malibu, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Burbank and Santa Barbara.

Wildfire Threat to Avocado Harvest 'exaggerated'
Agricultural experts are scrambling to quell fears of a global shortage of avocados following last week's Californian wildfires which burnt a path through the heart of American growing territory.

Journey Through the California Wastelands
The worst wildfires in the state's history have left 2,000 people homeless for the foreseeable future and experts anxiously looking to the weather.

Bush Tours Trail of Destruction From California's Wildfires
Aid pledges come quickly after Katrina criticism· Malibu refugees flee to exclusive hotels on coast

500,000 Forced to Flee California Wildfires Driven By Winds
More than 500,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes in southern California as fierce winds fanned fires across the region from Santa Barbara to the Mexican border.

California Wildfires Trigger State of Emergency
Hundreds of thousands of people in California have been forced to flee their homes as fierce brush fires fueled by gusting winds continue to burn out of control.

Hollywood Flees As Wildfires Sweep Coast of California
Brush fires fueled by fierce desert winds continued to sweep through southern California yesterday destroying homes and forcing evacuations.

Death Toll Mounts As Greek Wildfires Rage on
· Chaos as rescue teams rush to save villagers · More than sixty now dead despite mass evacuation

City Loses Its Cool After Fire Destroys Forest
The effects of a wildfire that destroyed prime forest on Mount Parnitha, the Athens outcrop celebrated since antiquity, could take a century to overcome.

Wildfire
Confidence uncompromising attitude allowing nothing to stand in your way…

Wildfire Prevention Tips: Protect your Home and Property
While nature causes many wildfires, the majority are caused by humans. Wildfire prevention is of the utmost importance if we wish to save our environment, our homes, and our lives.

Forest Fires in Indonesia Cloak Region in Haze
Schools were closed and masks distributed yesterday as air quality plunged in Malaysian Borneo after haze spread from forest fires in Indonesia.

Fighting Fire With Fire in South Africa
This article is about Chris Fong's experience volunteering with the Global Volunteer Network at a wildlife consevation in South Africa.

Thousands of Tourists Evacuated As Forest Fires Ravage Resorts
· One man drowned in rush to board rescue boats · Blazes believed to have been started deliberately

British Tourists Flee Greek Forest Fires
Up to 1,000 British holidaymakers spent the night camped out on beaches last night after forest fires tore through a holiday resort in northern Greece.

Australia Battles Wildfires As New Year Brings Record Heatwave
· Sydney records highest temperature since 1939 · Buildings destroyed as fires burn out of control

Arson Conspiracy Behind Spain Fires
The vast majority of the 19,000 wildfires that have raged across Spain this summer have been started by arsonists or are the result of human carelessness, according to the country's environment minister. Cristina Narbona provoked controversy yesterday by saying fewer than one in 20 of...

Fires Rage Across South-west Europe
Forest fires raged across south-west Europe yesterday as a heatwave hit an area already parched by a severe drought that has dried up rivers and led to water restrictions in many places.

Portuguese Villages Evacuated After Forest Fires
Some 1,800 firefighters and soldiers were yesterday battling half a dozen blazes in Portugal as one man was reported to have died and dozens more were evacuated from villages.

Huge Rise in Siberian Forest Fires Puts Planet at Risk, Scientists Warn
Fires in the Siberian forests - the largest in the world and vital to the planet's health - have increased tenfold in the last 20 years and could again rage out of control this summer, Russian scientists warn.

War Call-up Cuts Us Ability to Fight Disasters
America's state governors have complained to the Bush administration that the high number of national guard volunteers serving in Iraq has hobbled their ability to fight wildfires or other disasters.

Scouts Sued for $14m Over Forest Fire
The US government and Utah state are suing the Boy Scouts of America for almost $14m damages for a troop's failure to follow one of the movement's most hallowed rules: putting out the campfire. The mistake, the suit alleges, began a fire which spread across more than 5,600 hectares (14...

ASPCA Sets Up Disaster Relief Fund for CA Animal Groups
The ASPCA has set up a disaster relief fund for animal shelter and rescue groups who depleted their resources during the recent wildfires in Southern California.

Rain Fails to Tame California Blazes
The death toll has risen to 22 in the wildfires that have been sweeping through southern California for nearly a week, with one of the 12,000 firefighters engaged in the battle against seven separate blazes among the latest victims. Despite cooler weather and some drizzle, the fires...

17 Dead As California Wildfires Spread
Tens of thousands of people were made to evacuate their homes in southern California yesterday as 11 separate wildfires continued to burn. The state's outgoing governor, Gray Davis, described some of the areas as a "war zone". A total of 17 people are now thought to have died in the fires...

Fires return to French Riviera
Big forest fires broke out again in drought-stricken southern France yesterday, destroying up to 1,000 hectares of woods and scrubland and forcing the precautionary evacuation of two all-but-empty campsites and a holiday centre, the police and fire service said.

Portuguese Fires Ravage Forests
Forest fires which have raged through Portugal over the past six weeks have burnt down nearly 5% of the countryside, including up to 10% of its forests, according to the country's forestry service. Officials said 336,000 hectares (840,000 acres) of forest, scrub and farmland had been...

Bodies Left Unburied in Paris As Heat Toll Soars
French mortuaries in crisis and mafia blamed for Italy's forest fires.

Chilean Forest Fires Devastate Ancient Trees
The monkey puzzle tree, much loved in English suburban gardens, has been brought close to extinction in the wild by disastrous forest fires which have burned down 71% of its stronghold in Chile's Malleco national reserve, the United Nations Environment Programme said yesterday. Some trees...

Nato asked for help to put out fires
Portugal requested Nato to provide firefighting aircraft yesterday as the death toll from a series of forest fires reached 14.

Two Britons Killed As Arsonists Blamed for Forest Fires Across French Riviera
Briton and her granddaughter, 15, among four dead. French police were searching last night for arsonists believed to be behind the series of devastating forest fires sweeping across the Riviera, in which a British teenager and her grandmother have died.

Hunt for Arsonists As Forest Fires Sweep Across South of France
Briton and her granddaughter, 15, among four dead.

Endangered Fish Rescued from Arizona Wildfires
Biologists and volunteers have been working together to save a rare fish threatened by debris from the Aspen Fire earlier this month on Mount Lemmon in Arizona. The fire covered 40,500 acres in the Sabino Canyon area.

Fire Sweeps Through French Holiday Area
More than 8,000 tourists and residents were forced to leave camp sites and homes in the holiday region around Fréjus when fire swept through 10,000 hectares (24,700 acres) of heath and forest beside the Mediterranean.

Bushfires Were 'worst Disaster'
Bushfires in Australia over the past year have caused the country's worst ever environmental disaster, a parliamentary inquiry heard yesterday. The smoke released during the southern summer was equivalent to a year's vehicle emissions, the inquiry heard. "This wasn't just...

A Burning Question
As parts of Australia recover from a spate of severe bushfires, debate is raging over how they can be better controlled in future, writes David Fickling.

Fatal Bushfires Tear Into Sydney
The worst bushfires Australia has seen in 30 years have claimed two lives and destroyed at least 19 homes in the past two days, authorities said today. Sparks and ash were today raining down on Sydney, Australia's most populous city, after flames jumped a river and roads and raced toward...

Bush vows to halt forest fires by cutting trees
Environmentalists say new plan is aimed at favouring Republicans' friends in logging industry. President George Bush left his holiday ranch in Texas yesterday to head not to the Johannesburg earth summit to discuss saving the planet but in the opposite direction, both geographically and spiritually:

Smog chokes Moscow
Moscow woke yesterday to a veil of smog as the worst forest fires in years raged around the Russian capital. Residents were warned to stay indoors by meteorological experts reporting the thickest smog in 30 years.

Fire threatens giant sequoia trees
Woman charged with starting the blaze sweeping through a Californian national park. Some of the world's oldest and biggest trees are threatened by the wave of wildfires sweeping through the western states of the US.

Second Firefighter Accused of Arson
A part-time firefighter has been accused of starting what has become the worst wildfire in Arizona's history.

Arizona Fires Force 30,000 Out of Homes
Hundreds of homes have been destroyed, thousands of people evacuated and hundreds of thousands of hectares engulfed in some of the worst forest fires ever to hit the United States. As flames threatened to wipe out a whole Arizona town, the state's governor said yesterday that the fire was...

Colorado forester held on fire charge
A worker for the US Forest Service appeared in court yesterday after admitting that she started the wildfires that have ravaged Colorado for days, by burning a letter from her estranged husband.

Forestry Worker Admits Starting Colorado Fire
A US Forest Service employee arrested for starting a fire that has scorched more than 40,469 hectares (100,000 acres) of land in Colorado by burning a letter from her estranged husband in a national forest was due to appear in court later today. The forestry technician, Terry Barton, 38,...

Fightback begins near Denver
A shift of wind has given fire crews a chance to go on the offensive against a bushfire which has burned 36,000 hectares (90,000 acres) in the foothills south-west of Denver, Colorado.

Living on the edge in Australia's tinderbox
Choking, frightened communities in the suburbs of Sydney and in the Blue Mountains to the west were bracing themselves yesterday for what forecasters say could be the worst few days of the bushfire outbreak which has already destroyed more than 500,000 hectares (1.25m acres) of vegetation and 170...

Sydney bushfires ravage house
A bushfire set a home ablaze outside Sydney today while searing winds fanned over100 wildfires raging in the city's suburbs. The property consumed by flames was in the Shoalhaven region, on the coast south of Australia's largest city. The Rural Fire Service said the fire was threatening other...