MORE THAN 1.17M HECTARES SCORCHED IN US

LOS ANGELES— More than three dozen major blazes burned across the US West Coast over the weekend driven by strong winds and triple-digit temperatures.

This year’s fires had burned more than 1.17 million hectares on Friday, already more than the annual average of about 971,000 ha over the last 10 years, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

California officials declared a local emergency in Santa Barbara on Saturday as a fast-moving wildfire destroyed homes and forced thousands of resi- dents to evacuate.

The Holiday Fire near Goleta broke out on Friday evening and forced more than 2,000 people to flee from their homes.

Break in the wind

Some 350 firefighters took advantage of a period of light winds early on Saturday to contain as much of the blaze as possible, which has burned through 20 to 32 ha, fire officials said.

Blazes broke out across the western United States, fanned by scorching heat, winds and low humidity in a particularly intense fire season.

On Friday, the remains of an unidentified person were found near a razed home by the Klamathon Fire.

Elsewhere in Northern California, the County Fire has charred 35,764 ha in Napa and Yolo counties.

In Colorado, officials said fire crews had made “much progress” battling the Spring Creek Fire, which broke out on June 27 and has consumed 43,295 ha.

The fire was 43 percent contained on Saturday, the officials said.—