CALIFORNIA COUNTS WILDFIRE DAMAGE

Nearly 6,400 firefighters have been toiling for a week against blazes fuelled by bone dry conditions and powerful winds in southern California. As losses from similar fires in Northern California last month top $3 billion, here is a look at past wildfires:

carpinteria (California) — Crews battling wildfires ravaging southern California for a week have managed to slow the spread of the worst of the blazes, officials said Tuesday, as residents were taking stock of the catastrophic damage.

But the biggest “Thomas” fire, which has charred nearly 95,000 hectares (234,000 acres) of land, remains only 20 per cent contained, according to official data, as firefighters warned of an ongoing threat.

Evacuation orders were in place for threatened areas in the Santa Barbara region about 160km from Los Angeles.

In the past day or so, the blaze figure has grown by around a thousand hectares.

Nearly 6,400 firefighters have been toiling for a week against blazes fueled by bone dry conditions and powerful winds.

Winds will blow at up to 65kmph,

20% of the wildfire contained spreading ove 95,000

hectares

forecasters said, as public health authorities urged people to wear face masks to protect against ash and smoke.

Retired pilot Don Thompson, who has an avocado farm in the coastal resort of Carpinteria, near Santa Barbara, described the loss of his recently deceased brother’s house to the blaze as “the end of an era for our family.”

“He built this house himself,” he said pointing to two smoldering stone chimneys that were all that remained. “Here was the jacuzzi, there — there was a deck where you could see the ocean,” he added.

Half of Thompson’s family’s avocado orchard was destroyed, while thick black smoke persisted on Tuesday, limiting visibility to some 50 metres.

“There was some tears,” he continued. Though he was more fortunate to save his own property, thanks partly through his family’s own efforts with a water pump, generator, and hose, he admitted he had been overawed by the “majesty” of the inferno. “It’s destruction but it’s still nature and it had some beauty,” he said.

The highway that runs through the area was not enough to stop the spread of the flames, which was propelled by burning vegetation.

On the seaside, the palm trees that symbolise the state for many, were reduced to sad blackened trunks. —

AFP The remains of fire damaged vehicles are lying outside a home in the hills of Toro Canyon, north of Santa Barbara, California, as firefighters continue to battle the Thomas Fire in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties where over 230,000 acres have...