ONLINE
CALIFORNIA
Thousands of residents are evacuating areas in Northern California as an uncontained wildfire races towards several towns in the Sierra foothills.
The Camp Fire, which started early on Thursday near Camp Creek, has been fuelled by strong winds and dry forest.
Neighbourhoods, schools and hospitals have been evacuated while some residents in the town of Paradise were trapped by the flames, officials say. Authorities said there are unconfirmed reports of casualties. “We have received reports of some fatalities,” Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea told reporters. “Those reports have not yet been verified.”
The Camp Fire has burned through 20,000 acres as of Thursday afternoon, local time, according to California Fire officials.
As winds approached 50 mph (80 km/h), causing the fire to grow rapidly in just a few hours, some residents were forced to abandon vehicles and escape on foot, local media reported. Further south in Ventura County, north-east of Los Angeles, strong winds are preventing efforts to tackle another massive blaze – miles from the scene of a mass shooting in Thousands Oaks that claimed 12 lives on Wednesday.
Evacuation orders are in place in northern California for the town of Paradise, home to around 26,000 people, as well as Magalia, Concow, Butte Creek Canyon and Butte Valley areas.
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Capt John Gaddie told the Associated Press that some residents in Paradise had been trapped by the fire. Emergency crews were working to help people evacuate there, he said.
