Wildfires Quick Read

An early summer "MONSTER" inferno has razed thousands of hectares of bush in Queensland Australia due to heatwave
A monster inferno that has razed thousands of hectares of bush and farmland in central Queensland is becoming more powerful as a heatwave sweeps the state.
Exhausted crews have spent the night battling to get the upper hand as the fire continues to threaten communities between Bundaberg and Gladstone.
But authorities this morning warned the blaze had begun to re-intensify, with heavy smoke making it difficult for firefighters to bring it under control.
"It's so smoky out there we didn't get to see the whole fire, all we got to see was the section we were working on," water-bomber pilot John Gallaher told ABC radio.


Camp Fire death toll 81- 870 missing: 16,600 homes and structures destroyed! Estimated containment reached by the end of the month
As rain spread across Northern California on Wednesday, containment of the Camp Fire in Butte County increased to 80 per cent, Cal Fire said.
The number of dead remained at 81, according to the agency's morning incident report.
The number of missing people in the area stood at 870, with 1,864 people accounted for, according to the Butte County Sheriff's Office.
Of the 81 fatalities, 56 have been tentatively identified, according to the Sheriff's Office.


CALIFORNIA INFERNO TOLL RISES TO 63: 600+ MISSING: 12,000 buildings have been destroyed: Wildfires choking the state
Photo Washington Post
The number of people missing in northern California's devastating wildfire has leapt to more than 600, and seven more bodies have been found, according to local authorities.
The missing persons' list has doubled since earlier on Thursday.
The Camp Fire, the state's deadliest and most destructive blaze, has killed at least 63 people. Nearly 12,000 buildings have been destroyed.
According to Reuters, thousands of additional structures are still threatened as firefighters, many from distant states, laboured to contain and suppress the flames.


228 people now missing at least 31 dead with 300,000 evacuated as California awaits ‘devil winds’ predicted to fan the flames
At least 228 people were still missing early on Monday in California’s deadliest and most destructive blaze on record, one of two fires raging in the state which have killed at least 31 people and forced 300,000 evacuations.
The Camp Fire in Northern California has now burned down nearly 7,000 homes and businesses around 120,000 acres and is still only 25% contained.
29 people are dead with the toll set to rise which will make it the deadliest wildfire ever in California.
Down in Southern California, the so-called Woolsey Fire has burned almost 100,000 acres and destroyed around 200 structures and is only 15% contained.
Two people are thought to have died from that fire.


President Donald Trump blames fires on poor forestry management and with more than 130 million dead trees in California he has a point!
California's trees are dying at a rate of 30 million every year due to drought and bark beetles.
With so many dead and dying trees it would cost the state billions to cut them down, so they are just left where they stand, a great big fat accident just waiting to happen. Full story
So Mr Trump does have a point, throw into the mix hot and dry weather for months on end and no significant rain since May.
San Francisco recorded its hottest day ever in September when the mercury hit 41 deg C (106 deg F). 2018 was one of the hottest summers on record, drying vegetation to tinder.


9 dead 35 missing and the death toll set to rise significantly: 250,000 evacuated from Malibu as 3 wildfires ravage California
Authorities say the Camp Fire in the north and the Woolsey Fire and Hill Fire in the south are being fanned by strong winds.
The three major fires are now raging across the state as California as the most destructive wildfire in its history kills at least 9 people along with 35 missing and razes 6,500 homes to the ground, while 250,000 evacuate Malibu, the home of celebrities, flames rage over 200 square miles.
In the north, a huge wildfire destroyed the town of Paradise.
The 20,000-acre (8,100-hectare) fire north of Sacramento started in the Plumas National Forest on Thursday and quickly engulfed the town of Paradise.


Tens of thousands of people flee and a town of 30,000 wiped out by a wildfire in Northern California fuelled by predicted strong winds
Tens of thousands of people fled a fast-moving wildfire Thursday in Northern California, some clutching babies and pets as they abandoned vehicles and struck out on foot ahead of the flames that forced the evacuation of an entire town and destroyed hundreds of structures.
"Pretty much the community of Paradise is destroyed, it's that kind of devastation," said Cal Fire Capt. Scott McLean late Thursday.
"The wind that was predicted came and just wiped it out."


American inferno: 90 wildfires from Texas to Oregon as deadly Carr fire causes tens of thousands of people to be evacuated
Five people are now known to be dead, two of them children with 17 missing and tens of thousands evacuated as the "Carr Fire" destroys 84,000 acres (34,000 hectares) of land an area three times bigger than the city of San Francisco.
The fire is being fed by strong winds and only 5% of the blaze is contained.
The blaze was one of about a dozen major wildfires burning across California on Saturday and of nearly 90 overall from Texas to Oregon.
According to Reuters, the fires which started Thursday driven by gale-force winds exploded into a firestorm that leapt the Sacramento River and engulfed whole neighbourhoods in and around Redding, sending thousands of people fleeing for their lives in a chaotic evacuation.


Greece wildfire Update! Another 24 bodies have been found on a Greek beach "bracing each other" as death toll rises to 50
According to Greek media, another 24 bodies have been found near the Argyri Akti beach, in Mati, east of Athens, bringing the death toll from the fires to 50
Apparently, the bodies were found bracing each other.
Speaking to the Greek media, Nikos Economopoulos, President of the Hellenic Red Cross, said that the victims were discovered bracing each other.
They were trying to find a way towards the relative safety of the sea.
Among the dead are children.
Dozens of cars were burned nearby.
Another sixty-nine victims have been hospitalised.


Deadly wildfires kills 24 with many more injured as coast guard vessels and private boats rescue survivors from Greece's beaches
Gale-fanned wildfires raged through holiday resorts near Greece's capital, killing at least 24 people by early Tuesday and injuring more than 100, including 11 in serious condition, in the country's deadliest fire season in more than a decade.
Greece sought international help through the European Union as the fires on either side of Athens left lines of cars torched, charred farms and forests, and sent hundreds of people racing to beaches to be evacuated by navy vessels, yachts and fishing boats.
Winds reached 50 mph as authorities deployed the country's entire fleet of water-dropping planes and helicopters to give vacationers time to escape.


At least 11 wildfires are raging inside the Arctic Circle with a wide area of Europe a tinderbox as more than 60 fires are burning in Sweden
Photo thelocal.se
At least 11 wildfires are raging inside the Arctic Circle as the hot, dry summer turns an abnormally wide area of Europe into a tinderbox.
The worst affected country, Sweden, has called for emergency assistance from its partners in the European Union to help fight the blazes, which have broken out across a wide range of its territory and prompted the evacuations of four communities.
Tens of thousands of people have been warned to remain inside and close windows and vents to avoid smoke inhalation.
Rail services have been disrupted.


2018 the year of the wildfire? The summer has just started but already the U.S. UK and Europe are being ravaged by wildfires
Photo Wikipedia
The summer has just started but already the U.S. UK and Europe are being ravaged by wildfires.
A fire in Lake County, California, reached almost 14,000 acres by Saturday morning.
The Pawnee Fire is only about 56 per cent contained.
A Red Flag warning remained in effect for the area through the weekend due to heightened fire weather.
Meanwhile, more than 2,000 firefighters aided by water-dropping helicopters battled a wind-driven wildfire raging out of control in Northern California on Monday, threatening homes and other structures as thick black smoke drifted across the San Francisco Bay Area.


Northern California still reeling from the worst fire in history last October blitzed by unexpected early raging monster Pawnee Fire (video)
Fire season blew in with a vengeance Sunday as flames scorched parts of Northern California, including a 7,700-acre inferno that raged through Lake County, wreaking havoc on communities still reeling from previous monster blazes.
The Pawnee Fire, fanned by dry, erratic winds, roared across the hilly eastern backbone of Lake County, destroying 12 structures (10 of them homes) and threatening some 700 others.
The fire surged from 450 acres after it started Saturday night to 3,000 acres by Sunday afternoon, forcing the evacuation of the Spring Valley area, a community of about 3,000 residents northeast of Clearlake near Highway 20, officials said.

Dante's Inferno! Severe drought billions of dead trees and terrorism promise the worst year ever for wildfires in North America
Last year was the worst ever for wildfires in the US and this year appears to be starting early.
Oklahoma is currently struggling with several wildfires this month resulting in Oklahoma's governor, Mary Fallin calling a state of emergency in 52 counties due to wildfires which are thought to have killed thousands of cattle and wild animals.
According to Rod Hall, Oklahoma state veterinarian put preliminary cattle deaths at roughly 1,100 head and expects that number could eventually climb to around 2,000.
“We’ll never know the exact number and people are also still finding dead animals,” Hall said in an interview, adding that recent rains helped contain most of the blazes.

The new weapon of terror? A massive wildfire in Australia which has hit parts of Sydney started deliberately according to authorities
A massive wildfire in Australia which has hit parts of Sydney and is out of control has been started deliberately according to authorities in which is becoming a very worrying trend in the West recently, with one government in Europe claiming wildfires is the latest terrorist weapon.
With the wild-fire travelling so fast residents have been advised in the area it is too late to leave, advising them to seek shelter as the fire front approaches and to protect themselves from the heat of the blaze.
The large bushfire is threatening homes in Sydney and is likely to have been deliberately started in what is a new trend in recent times, the wild-fire has become the new terrorist weapon.


A state of emergency declared in 55 of Oklahoma state's 77 counties as wildfires have scorched more than 200,000 acres (809 sq. kilometres)
A fast-moving wildfire has forced an evacuation order for about 1,400 people in three northwest Oklahoma small towns.
Dewey County Sheriff Clay Sander said his deputies are going door-to-door in Seiling, Taloga and Putnam telling residents to leave.
Sander urged people to heed the warning to leave and let firefighters protect property.
Sander said some who had earlier been evacuated from the nearby town of Vici (vi-si) were being allowed to return home.
Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin declared a state of emergency Friday in 55 of the state's 77 counties. Blazes have scorched more than 200,000 acres (809 sq. kilometres) in Dewey and neighbouring Woodward counties.
The declaration will help speed up emergency purchases and deliveries to help fight fires.
A turkey hunter was hospitalized with burns after being trapped in one fire.



Continued "climate instability" 60,000 people affected by Argentina's deadly floods in the north: At least 600,000 hectares destroyed by fire in the east
At least 10,000 residents in northern Argentina forced to evacuate their homes.
More than 60,000 people have been affected by Argentina's ongoing deluge, with at least 10,000 in the north forced to evacuate their homes, the Argentine Red Cross reports.
"So far there are more than 60,000 affected; the most complicated situation is in Santa Victoria Este, where 10,000 people have been evacuated and hundreds of families are isolated and without communication," said Cristian Bolado, director of response to emergencies and disasters of the Argentine Red Cross.
The Red Cross is predicting continued "climate instability" throughout the remainder of the weekend in Chaco, Tucuman and Formosa, with Salta falling under "critical watch."




Bushfires approaching Melbourne with heatwave melting highway's in Australia bringing to a close the most incredible start to a new year ever!
It has undoubtebly been the most incredible start to 2018, record warm for Holland and Alaska, record cold for much of the eastern and mid-planes in the US.
Record snow fall for Erie in the US and Florida, the massive snow storm 'Bombogenesis' Grayson along with two massive named storms Eleanor and Dylan which both battered the UK and western Europe.
Throw in a rare heatwave to attack Kenya all this month and two volcano eruptions.



It's been blazing away for the best part of a month the Thomas fire is now officially the biggest fire ever in California and it's not over yet
It's been blazing now for 19 days and yesterday the Thomas wildfire officially became the largest on record in California.
The Thomas fire has gobbled up 273,400 acres (110,641 hectares) which surpasses the previous record of the 2003 Cedar fire in San Diego County that scorched 273,246 acres and killed 15 people, according to Reuters.
According to Cal Fire, the biggest fire in the state's history is now 65% contained.




Since the Civil War, half of Southern California's largest wildfires have occurred in the last 15 years as Thomas fire set to become the biggest ever
Ever since the Thomas fire erupted Dec. 4, it has steadily burned its way up the list of California's largest wildfires since the Great Depression.
That list, however, does not include what some consider to be California's largest known wildfire - the 1889 Santiago Canyon fire, which scorched 300,000 acres in Orange, Riverside and San Diego counties.



“There will be no ability to fight fire in these kinds of winds,” 80 mph winds feeding the Californian fires as 200,000 under evacuation orders
“There will be no ability to fight fire in these kinds of winds,” fire official.
High winds topping 80 mph are feeding wildfire Thomas in southern California making it impossible to gain a foothold on the extremely dangerous fire.
The powerful winds are not only fanning and worsening the existing fire but also causing new ones.