The latest wildfire on record in California is spreading rapidly through the mountains of the central state, and firefighters have begun putting out a major blaze south of Los Angeles.
According to the official Cal Fire website, the Mosquito Fire burned an area of 16,600 hectares in the Sierra Nevada mountains northeast of San Francisco in just four days.
Cal Fire teams said they have contained only 10 percent of the fires raging in parts of Eldorado and Placer counties.
She explained that a drop in temperatures after a week of heatwaves has slowed the spread of the fire, while stronger winds are pushing it north and northeast, threatening hundreds of homes.
She also pointed out that the city of Forest Hill “faces a growing threat that requires the issuance of evacuation orders and warnings,” according to Agence France-Presse.
Earlier, residents of Georgetown, Vulcanville and Bottle Hill were asked to evacuate, according to the Sacramento Bee.
“This is the fourth time we have been evacuated. But this time the worst,” Josh Manzer of Vulcanville told the paper.
Authorities said planes and helicopters supported the groups on the ground.
On Saturday, fire brigades managed to put out a massive fire in Fairview, south of Los Angeles, after a tropical storm brought rain and caused temperatures to drop.
Two people died in the fire, which broke out during a heat wave in the southwestern United States and destroyed 20 buildings, officials said.
The Western United States has been suffering from a devastating drought for more than two decades, exacerbated by climate change driven by the continued use of fossil energy sources.
