HOMES LOST IN INFERNO
FOUR wildfires in Southern California have burned some 200 homes and other buildings and prompted evacuation orders for at least 150,000 people.
The charging walls of fire are turning possessions to dust but have so far not caused any deaths or serious injuries.
Smoke obscured the sky in Ventura, about 100km northwest of Los Angeles, leading James and Josie Ralstin to don masks on Tuesday as they carried some belongings from their home in view of a burning residence.
Fires are not common in December but can break out when parched vegetation combines with the region’s infamously dangerous Santa Ana winds. Hardly any rain has fallen in Southern California in the past six months.
The speed of the flames served as a reminder of the wildfires in California wine country eight weeks ago that killed 44 people.