More than 100 people temporarily stranded after fleeing a blaze that spread to 478 acres within hours
Fire crews are working to contain a Southern California brush fire that temporarily stranded a group of up to 100 people at a beach near a reservoir.
The Lake Fire began around 4 p.m. on Saturday at the Silverwood State Recreation Area in San Bernardino County, about 75 east of Los Angeles, growing to 478 acres over the next five hours.
The fire's rapid growth prompted a group of about 100 visitors to flee in their beachwear, as bystanders with boats and jet skis helped evacuate them to a safe area.
'I was west of the beach, fishing in vegetation,' Shaun Kirkman told The Los Angeles Times. 'The fire sounded like Velcro so I kept fishing, then it got louder. I saw 100-foot flames. Me and my girlfriend ran out of there.'
Park rangers also assisted in transporting the group, and by 8 p.m., the stranded people were back with their vehicles, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department told the paper.
Giselle Arguello and her family told ABC7 she and about a dozen people were temporarily stranded in a parking lot.
'We're telling everybody, 'There's no exit. We are stuck in this lot. We have to get towards the water,"'Arguello said.
'Kids were crying. People were coming on Jet Skis, getting people,' she added. 'We had to just say, 'Whatever's left is material things.' It was intense.'
The fire was 485 acres in size and 10 percent contained as of 1:20 p.m. local time, according to Cal Fire.
'Conditions will dry out again today with low humidity and winds gusting up to 25 mph in the afternoon,' the agency said. 'Monday is forecasted to bring stronger wind gusts exceeding 30 mph, which could challenge suppression efforts. Firefighters will continue monitoring weather throughout the day.'
The fire's forward progress has been stopped, according to the San Bernardino County Fire Protection District.
Road closures remain in effect for the intersection of Highway 173 and 138, as well as on Highway 138 from Old Mill to Interstate-15, per state officials. The California Highway Patrol is assisting individuals who need to access blocked areas.
The blaze continues to threaten high-tension power lines.
A dry winter has left Southern California with heightened risks during the summer fire season, local fire chiefs warned on Friday.
'We can never let our guard down,' Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said in the wake of the latest in a bruising fire season for the region in which 30 people were killed and billions of dollars of damage done during Los Angeles-area wildfires in January.
Donald Trump's administration has previously threatened to withhold fire aid from California, and the president's ' Big, Beautiful Bill' spending package may gut clean energy incentives believe are necessary to stop the planet-warming climate crisis that is accelerating more dangerous fires in the state.
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Reuters
32 minutes ago
- Reuters
FIFPRO mulls 20-minute halftimes, more cooling breaks amid extreme heat
MIAMI, June 30 (Reuters) - Global players' union FIFPRO is exploring whether extending halftime to 20 minutes and introducing more frequent cooling breaks could better protect players from extreme heat. Nine of the 16 host cities for the 2026 World Cup face conditions considered 'extreme risk' for heat-related illness. Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Guadalajara, Houston, Kansas City, Miami, Monterrey and Philadelphia are expected to face dangerous levels of heat and humidity, posing player safety concerns and fueling calls for mandatory cooling aids or schedule changes. FIFPRO's heat risk assessments are based on wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT), a measure combining temperature, humidity, solar radiation and wind speed to estimate how environmental conditions affect the body's ability to cool itself. Under FIFPRO guidelines, a WBGT reading above 28 degrees Celsius indicates conditions in which matches should be postponed or rescheduled to protect players' health. By comparison, world soccer governing body FIFA's own guidelines set the extreme risk threshold higher, at 32 degrees Celsius WBGT – but even by that standard, six of the nine cities are still projected to exceed safe limits. Major League Soccer in the U.S. has a threshold of 29 degrees Celsius WBGT. 'Cooling breaks at the 30th minute and 75th minutes are quite traditional, but from a physiological point of view it does not make sense,' said Vincent Gouttebarge, FIFPRO's Medical Director. 'Even if you ingest more than 200 millilitres of fluid, you already cannot take it all. So I would definitely like to see some project where we look at the efficacy of perhaps more frequent but shorter cooling breaks – every 15 minutes, rather than only one during each half.' LONGER HALFTIMES Gouttebarge also questioned whether the traditional 15-minute halftime interval is sufficient when matches are played in extreme heat. 'You can imagine that halftime of 15 minutes might not be enough in order to decrease the core temperature,' he said. 'It could be a halftime of 20 minutes which would be significant. That has been shown in the laboratory and FIFPRO, together with the national union in Portugal in August, we are going to test this kind of mitigation strategy.' The urgency of stronger heat protocols became clear at this month's Club World Cup where two matches -- Benfica-Bayern Munich in Charlotte and Chelsea-Esperance in Philadelphia exceeded the WBGT threshold FIFPRO considers unsafe. 'According to our position, those games should have been postponed later that day or rescheduled,' Gouttebarge said. FIFPRO officials acknowledged that FIFA has responded constructively during the tournament by lowering thresholds for mandatory cooling breaks and improving pitch-side hydration, but stressed that proactive planning is critical. 'FIFA have been quite responsive once the tournament was under way,' said Alex Phillips, FIFPRO General Secretary. 'They have actually modified how they've been dealing with heat during the matches based on FIFPRO's input, which is credit to the work of the team. Obviously, it would have been better if that happened in advance, but it's better that they have adapted.' FIFPRO warned that the risks highlighted at the Club World Cup are a preview of what players could face at the expanded 2026 World Cup. 'This is not just affecting the Club World Cup, but also future tournaments either in the U.S. or elsewhere in the world,' said Alexander Bielefeld, FIFPRO Director of Policy & Strategic Relations. 'We need a better balance between commercial interests and the health and safety of players,' he added referring to earlier kick-off times to accommodate European television audiences.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Fifpro calls for longer half-time breaks after extreme heat ‘wake-up call' at Club World Cup
Half-time breaks should be extended to 20 minutes in extreme heat, the global players' union has said. Fifpro is calling for extra measures to protect footballers after what it describes as the 'wake-up call' of the Club World Cup, which has been plagued by extreme temperatures over the past two weeks. Fifa protocols allow for a cooling break lasting for three minutes in each half if temperature thresholds are exceeded. According to Fifpro's medical director, Dr Vincent Gouttebarge, an extended half-time break would provide a necessary additional tool in helping to keep players' core temperatures within their normal range. 'A cooling break generally lasts three minutes and they are designed to decrease the [player's] temperature through the use of ice,' he said. 'But we are lacking the evidence in terms of what is the optimal duration for a cooling break. A half-time of 15 minutes might not be enough to decrease the core temperature. So a lot of research is being done into alternative mitigation strategies and it could be that a half-time of 20 minutes is significant. It has been shown [to work] in the laboratory. Together with the national [players'] union in Portugal, we are going to test this kind of mitigation strategy in August.' Complaints from players and coaches at the Club World Cup over temperatures in the US that have breached 40C have been a theme of the tournament. Fifpro's general secretary, Alex Phillips, said the organisation had been engaging with Fifa over the issue during the past fortnight and that progress had been made. 'We are partially happy because Fifa have been quite responsive once the tournament was under way,' he said. 'So they have actually modified how they have been dealing with heat during the matches based on Fifpro's input. 'Obviously, it would have been better if that had happened in advance, but it's better that they have adapted and they've put in place various different mitigation measures. There's additional water around the pitch, towels and so on, and the threshold for the cooling breaks has come down. So there has been a positive reaction from Fifa, which is good. 'But going forward, it's not just Fifa. It's any competition organiser staging tournaments in this kind of heat. Their protocols [need to] reflect more of the good practice in Australia, US and other countries that deal with this week after week in their national leagues.' In the US, for example, they do not stage MLS games at midday in Florida and in Australia there are thresholds for the delay or postponement of matches. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion Philips also warned that European football would have to get used to hot weather dictating that international tournaments are played in the winter. 'I think the evolution we've seen in recent years is basically the football is played 12 months of the year,' he said. 'So winter, summer, European winter, we're going 12 months a year, unfortunately.' Alexander Bielefeld, Fifpro's director of policy and strategic relations, said: 'I think the scheduling discussion is an important one for the years to come. And it might not just relate to, let's say, off-season breaks of the players but also to other issues that relate to player welfare or safe attendance by spectators, or the performance on the pitch.'
The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Millions of U.S. kids attend schools in dangerous ‘urban heat zones,' analysis finds
Millions of U.S. children attend schools located in cities disproportionately threatened by the impact of climate change, researchers recently warned. Climate change is making heat waves more frequent and intense, and dialing up humidity — which can make climates feel even hotter. Cities absorb and re-emit heat from the sun more than natural landscapes, thanks to their highly concentrated buildings, roads and infrastructure. These pockets of heat are known to climate scientists as 'heat islands,' resulting in temperatures up to 20 degrees higher for cities and their inhabitants. Humid regions and communities with larger and denser populations and more buildings — such as the East Coast's New York City and the West Coast's San Francisco — experience the greatest temperature differences. The heat island effect is expected to strengthen and grow in the future, as urban areas become more populated. This puts children in those areas at a heightened risk. Children are already one of the groups most vulnerable to extreme heat: the nation's top killer. Furthermore, many schools do not have adequate air conditioning. A Government Accountability Office report in 2020 found that tens of thousands of schools need their heating and cooling systems replaced or updated. More than 80 percent of Americans live in urban areas. Now, a new report from non-profit Climate Central says the majority of K-12 public school students located in the nation's biggest cities go to school on 'extreme' urban heat islands. Approximately 76 percent are in zones where temperatures are at least 8 degrees higher than outlying areas. 'Across the nearly 6.2 million K-12 public school students included in this analysis, the average student attends school in neighborhoods that are 8.3 degrees hotter due to the built environment,' the report found. In an analysis of 65 of America's largest cities and more than 12,000 K-12 public schools, Climate Central said that in a quarter of the cities assessed, nine in every 10 students attend a school located in an extreme urban heat island. The city with the lowest additional heat for the average student was Phoenix. New York City, the largest city in the country, had the maximum additional heat, with an increase of 9.6 degrees. Climate Central said in 62 of the 65 cities studied that at least half of all K-12 students attend public school in extreme urban heat zones. The three exceptions included Boston, Providence, Rhode Island, and Richmond, Virginia. Among the included cities, Louisville, Kentucky, Orlando, Florida, and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, have the largest shares of public K-12 students enrolled at schools in extreme urban heat zones. The analysis is based on Climate Central's previous modeling work and data from the National Center for Education Statistics. The report also noted that the risk is not equally felt. Urban heat islands are more likely in lower-income and non-white communities and Climate Central said burdens have linked to a history of racially biased housing policy. With hotter temperatures expanding into the fall and winter months, the authors have called for action to prevent greater impacts on children. 'Future generations are likely to face accelerating change and intensifying risks — particularly from heat waves — with continued warming,' the group asserted. 'Ultimately, a commitment to rapid, sustained cuts to carbon pollution is the most impactful action to slow the rate of warming and set younger generations on a different path, toward a safer future.'
