Los Angeles-Area Blaze Burning for Week Chars Thousands of Acres
The Gifford Fire, located about 130 miles (210 kilometers) from downtown LA, has consumed 99,232 acres and was only 15% contained, according to CalFire, the state fire agency. Evacuation orders have been issued in parts of two counties and some roads are closed.
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CBS News
2 hours ago
- CBS News
Canyon Fire 91% contained in Ventura, Los Angeles counties, authorities say
The Canyon Fire, which has torched about 5,370 acres around the border between Ventura and Los Angeles counties, is close to complete containment after firefighters made significant progress on the blaze overnight, according to authorities. Cal Fire says the fire is 91% contained as of a 5:19 a.m. update on Monday. Fire activity was minimal overnight, allowing crews to improve control lines and focus on isolated heat sources. The 960 personnel assigned to the fire will be spread out to quickly extinguish any flare-ups, Cal Fire said. High temperatures could reach to as much as 104 degrees in fire areas on Monday, with gusts of wind potentially reaching 20 miles per hour. The Canyon Fire began last Thursday in the area directly southeast of Lake Piru and west of Castaic. As many as seven structures have burned. A firefighter with Kern County Fire Department was seriously injured when his truck overturned and rolled nearly 200 feet down a hill in Castaic. He was later identified as Battalion Chief James Agee.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Newfoundland's largest wildfire continues to gain ground near Kingston
SMALL POINT-ADAM'S COVE-BLACKHEAD-BROAD COVE — Newfoundland and Labrador's provincial fire duty officer says the largest of the province's out-of-control wildfires continued to gain ground Monday amid dry, windy conditions on the Avalon Peninsula. Mark Lawlor said the fire in eastern Newfoundland started over a week ago near the coastal town of Kingston, N.L., and has since expanded to about 52 square kilometres along the northwestern shore of Conception Bay. Lawlor said it was unclear how many homes or cabins in the area have been destroyed by the Kingston fire, which started Aug. 3. "The area of the Kingston fire is very smoky, therefore visibility is limited," he said in an interview. "So it's difficult to get in and actually count the number of structures." As of Monday afternoon, there were seven active wildfires in the province – five in Newfoundland and two in Labrador. But the Kingston fire was by far the largest. As of Saturday, about 3,000 people or about 1,500 households were under a provincial evacuation order. Many of those empty household and businesses are considered too close to the Kingston fire. At Ochre Pit Cove, about 13 kilometres north of Kingston, the local Red Ochre Cafe is now a firefighting command post. Cafe owner Ray Dwyer said most of his neighbours are worried about their homes. 'It's scary for everybody,' he said in an interview. 'Everyone's evacuated and they don't know how their properties are. Half the north shore here is scorched. It's strange when you go up the road and there's not a person, not an animal. It's just pretty desolate.' The picturesque hamlet was evacuated last Monday. Dwyer, who has managed the cafe for six years, said his 13 local employees are out of a job, and electricity in the area has been cut off. 'I had five great big freezers full and I have to go throw it away,' he said. 'The worst part about it is my employees have no income. It's got me killed that I can't help them.' Meanwhile, Dwyer said local firefighters have had to deal with very thick smoke. 'The fire departments have had their asses worked off here, and hats off to all the volunteers,' he said, adding that the area was hit by wildfires in May. 'All of these firefighters are volunteers.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 11, 2025. The Canadian Press
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
The Atlantic may get its first hurricane of the season - and it has the US in its sights
A tropical storm churning in the Atlantic may become not only the first hurricane of the North American 2025 season, but also the first to bring severe tropical storm conditions to the continental U.S. this year. Tropical Storm Erin is gaining power in the eastern Atlantic, according to AccuWeather meteorologists. The storm began as a small cluster of rain storms off the western African coast, but has now intensified and could be designated as a hurricane as soon as Wednesday, according to CNN. While the first hurricane of the season, on average, shows up by August 11, major hurricanes don't typically start forming until at least the first of September. But forecasters believe Erin could be an unseasonably early major storm. That is thanks, in part, to a lack of barriers to its intensification. "Several factors are working in its favor, including lack of dust, warm water and a lack of disruptive breezes," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Chad Merrill said. Hurricane season in the U.S. typically lasts from June 1 to November 30. Forecasters believe the storm will move west over the Atlantic for the next week and will then begin a slight northwest curve from Thursday to Friday. That course adjustment should prevent the main body of the storm from hitting the northeast Caribbean. AccuWeather warned that residents of Bermuda and the Bahamas should keep informed about the storm's progression and direction. In some scenarios forecasted, Erin will turns north and away from the U.S. But if the storm becomes powerful, the tropical storm conditions at its periphery could stretch for 100 miles or more, meaning even a northward turn might bring severe storms, high winds, and damaging surf and rain to the coastal U.S. In that scenario, the east coast of the U.S. from North Carolina to New England would likely bear the brunt of the storm. "Any development could bring impacts for a large swath from the Caribbean to the United States East Coast," AccuWeather warned in a social media post. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that it would release advisories on Tropical Storm Erin sometime on Monday. If storm does spin up into a hurricane, it will become the first hurricane in a season that the NOAA predicts will be more active than usual. The NOAA believes between 13 and 19 named storms will whip up, and of those that approximately six to 10 will become full fledged hurricanes — with wind speeds of 74 miles per hour or greater. The NOAA believes three to five hurricanes will become major Category 3, 4, or 5 storms, which have 111 mph wind speeds or greater. The federal agency said it had 70 percent confidence in its forecast. 'This outlook is a call to action: be prepared. Take proactive steps now to make a plan and gather supplies to ensure you're ready before a storm threatens," NOAA's National Weather Service Director Ken Graham said in a statement.
