California fire rages, NY in path of storm
BANNING: Evacuation orders remained in place on Monday for thousands of people after a wildfire in mountains east of Los Angeles exploded in size and forced crews to battle flames in triple-digit heat. On the US east coast, tropical storm Isaias gathered hurricane strength as it neared landfall in the Carolinas and is forecast to sweep New York.
The Apple Fire Riverside County consumed more than 80 square kilometres of dry brush and timber, according to the California department of forestry and fire protection. As of Monday morning, it was only 5% contained. The cause was under investigation.
Officials allowed flames to run up the side of Mount San Gorgonio, an 3,350-metre peak, because it wasn’t safe to let crews work in such steep, rugged terrain, said Lisa Cox, a spokeswoman for the US Forest Service.
The blaze began as two adjacent fires reported Friday evening in Cherry Valley, an unincorporated area near the city of Beaumont about 137 kilometres east of downtown Los Angeles.
Evacuation orders and advisories were issued for about 8,000 people in mountain, canyon and foothill neighbourhoods.Campgrounds and hiking trails were closed in the San Gorgonio Wilderness area of the San Bernardino National Forest.
Meanwhile, Isaias picked up speed and strength, likely becoming a hurricane before hitting the Carolinas and posing the second tropical threat to New York in a month.Tropical storm and hurricane warnings were sent from South Carolina to Manhattan, with the flood threat reaching well inland and as far north as Vermont, according to the National Weather Service.
Isaias will likely come ashore between Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and Wilmington, North Carolina, late Monday, and then race north overland to Canada.
The storm could cause $1.5 billion in losses but doesn’t pose a threat to any major oil refineries or platforms.
Isaias will sweep through the Mid-Atlantic after striking the Carolinas, spinning over New York late Tuesday and then drifting off to northern New England and Quebec, Canada.
SUBPOENAS ISSUED ON FIRING OF US WATCHDOG Senior US congressional committee Democrats announced subpoenas on Monday for depositions from witnesses in their investigation into President Donald Trump’s abrupt firing in May of Steve Linick as State Department inspector general.
The subpoenas were issued by Representative Eliot Engel, chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, Carolyn Maloney, chairwoman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform and Senator Bob Menendez, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.