Fires in California continue to rage - evacuation order for 80,000 households

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South of Los Angeles, at Butterfield Ranch, residents of a settlement gaze at the approaching flames

Photo: Etienne Laurent / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock

Weeks after the devastating fires on the US west coast, which caused a stir internationally, the region is still grappling with heavy fires.

Two major fires are currently raging in Southern California that cannot be brought under control.

More than 1,800 emergency services have largely prevented the flames from spreading to settlements.

There were no houses burned down, said the fire department in Orange County from the area of ​​the so-called Silverado fire.

This source of fire broke out on Monday.

He has already charred 12,600 hectares.

The fire, favored by violent winds and extreme drought, raged east of the city of Irvine, about 70 kilometers from Los Angeles.

Another fire a little further north near Yorba Linda damaged ten houses, the authorities said.

It has not yet been contained.

An evacuation order was in force on Tuesday for a good 80,000 households.

Two firefighters suffered severe burns while extinguishing the fire on Monday.

Thick smoke lay over parts of southern California.

The environmental authorities classified the air quality at dozen of measuring stations as "unhealthy".

The "red flag" warning of high fire risk, triggered by strong winds and drought, continued.

However, the meteorologists predicted that the winds would ease in the next few days.

California Governor Gavin Newsom spoke of a "historic" forest fire season.

The west coast state has been ravaged by devastating fires since mid-August.

More than 16,000 square kilometers of forest and farmland have already burned down, 31 people have died.

More than ten thousand houses were damaged or destroyed.

It also burned in other states in the United States, for example in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and in the US state of Washington.

Less precipitation and heat waves

Forest fires are an annually recurring normal in many regions of the country.

The fires are partly caused by natural causes such as lightning strikes, but sometimes also by arson.

For some plants, the burn cycle is an important part of survival, because the flames cause the seeds to be shed in some species.

But this year the forest fire season was particularly intense.

According to experts, extreme drought and sometimes strong winds are currently responsible for this.

One driver of increasingly massive fire seasons is likely to be climate change, say experts.

A lack of precipitation and heat waves lead to droughts, through which the fire finds more and more food.

The vegetation is very dry and has nothing to counter the flames.

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joe / dpa