• Sat. Dec 2nd, 2023

Southern California firefighters battle 3 wildfires amid hot, dry weather

Southern California firefighters battle 3 wildfires amid hot, dry weather

MORENO VALLEY, Calif. (AP) — Firefighters in Southern California were battling three separate brush fires.

The fires were within 40 miles (65 km) of each other in mostly rural areas across Riverside County, southeast of Los Angeles.

About 1,000 homes are under evacuation orders, but no injuries or property losses were immediately reported, according to California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection officials, known as the Cal Fire.

Dozens of insurance companies are suing Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy to recover payments for homes and businesses lost in Colorado’s most destructive wildfires in 2021.

South African firefighters dance during a break during a morning meeting in Fox Creek, Alberta, Tuesday, July 4, 2023.  Several countries, including South Africa, have deployed firefighters to Canada to help local efforts to contain the widespread wildfires.  (AP Photo/Noah Burger)

In the fight against wildfires in Canada, crews in South Africa are a familiar and uplifting sight. It’s the fifth time they’ve deployed to Canada, which is facing its worst fire season ever, sending dangerous smoke across North America and into Europe.

FILE - A jogger runs along McCovey Cove outside Oracle Park in San Francisco on Sept. 9, 2020, under dark skies from wildfire smoke.  As Earth's climate continues to change from heat-trapping gases emitted into the air, fewer people are going outside.  Scientists say wildfire smoke can reach from rising and deadly fingers.  (AP Photo/Tony Avelar, File)

As summers have been smoky so far, scientists say it will get worse in the coming years due to climate change.

Naomi Rupena-Tuayo uses an umbrella to protect herself from intermittent rain as she stands outside all day for her job in the tourism industry, Thursday, June 29, 2023, in downtown Anchorage, Alaska.  A year after wildfires in Alaska burned enough land to cover the state of Connecticut, 2023 is on track for the slowest start to the wildfire season in three decades thanks to a cooler, wetter climate.  (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

Alaska is heading into its slowest wildfire season in three decades — a big relief after a year of fires burning an area the size of the state of Connecticut.

Two had stopped spreading by evening. A third “rapidly” grew to more than 2 square miles (5 square kilometers) within hours, Cal Fire said in a social media post.

Hundreds of firefighters were dispatched.

California is headed for some of the hottest weather of the year so far this weekend, and Riverside County is one of the areas under extreme heat warnings.

Already scorching temperatures It is predicted to go even higher In Nevada, Arizona, and California, some desert areas experience temperatures above 120 degrees Fahrenheit (48.8 degrees Celsius) during the day and in the 90s (above 32.2 degrees Celsius) at night.

California leaders A warning was given earlier in the week About fire hazard.

“As we get deeper into summer and the vegetation that grew in a wet spring dries out, we see an increase in wildfire activity,” California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot said at a news conference Wednesday.

The causes of all three fires are under investigation, Cal Fire said.


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