LOS ANGELES (Dispatches) - A brush fire in a mountainous area north of Los Angeles triggered evacuations in two U.S. counties, scorching nearly 5,000 acres (2,000 hectares), authorities said Friday.
At least 10 zones in Los Angeles and Ventura counties were under evacuation orders, with 2,700 residents displaced as of 11 p.m. (0600 GMT) Thursday, Ventura County Fire Department spokesperson Andrew Dowd told AFP.
At least 400 personnel have been deployed to contain the fire, according to Dowd.
The blaze erupted as firefighters battled a separate wildfire — California’s largest of the year so far — which raged for an eighth straight day and engulfed more than 99,000 acres in the Los Padres National Forest, threatening hundreds of homes.
The latest fire has so far burned 4,856 acres and remains zero percent contained, Dowd said.
The fires follow a July blaze that scorched more than 70,000 acres and needed hundreds of firefighters to contain it.
Fire authorities at the time noted that dry brush, sustained winds and high temperatures were fueling the flames.
That came after several earlier fires, stoking fears of a difficult season in a state still reeling from wildfires that killed 30 people in January.
In France authorities said on Friday, biggest wildfire in decades will burn for several more days even though it has been brought under control, as hundreds of firefighters kept up a battle against the flames.
The giant blaze in the southern department of Aude has burned through more than 17,000 hectares of land — an area bigger than Paris, killing one person, injuring 13 and destroying dozens of homes.
About 2,000 firefighters are still on duty around the blaze which was declared under control on Thursday night.
The fire will not be “declared extinguished for several days,” said Christian Pouget, the prefect for Aude. “There is still a lot of work to be done.”
Two days of strong and changing winds made the blaze difficult to predict.
Environment minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher wrote on X Thursday that the fire was the largest in France since 1949.
With Europe facing new August heatwaves, many areas are on alert for wildfires. Portugal on Thursday extended emergency measures because of the heightened risk of fires.
Near the Spanish town of Tarifa, fire crews secured areas near hotels and other tourist accommodations after controlling a major blaze that also destroyed hundreds of hectares.
Antonio Sanz, interior minister for Andalusia’s regional government, said on X that “the return of all evacuated people” had been authorized after the fire was “stabilized.”