Half a million flee California wildfires

Wildfires that have raged across California for several days are spreading and more than half a million people have been forced to flee their homes.US President George W Bush has declared a state of emergency across seven counties in the state where firefighters are battling to control at least 20 separate blazes.The emergency crews are not being helped by hot winds gusting up to 70mph which are fanning the flames and making the fires spread across a wider area.The fires, which began four days ago, have killed at least two people.A 52-year-old man died in the fires in San Diego County and an unidentified civilian died of burns in a fire in Santa Clarita.Mr Bush has authorised the Federal Emergency Management Agency to co-ordinate disaster relief in the seven counties affected.California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has called in 1,500 National Guard troops to help with firefighting, evacuations and crowd control.He also gave assurances to people who had lost their homes and possessions in the fires.San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders told people to "stay at home, stay off the freeways" so fire crews and evacuees could keep moving as the winds changed course. He said about 1,000 homes in San Diego County had been destroyed.The firestorms closed major state highways, schools and businesses and plumes of thick black smoke drifted across much of southern California, blotting out the sun.Officials said people were co-operating and evacuating quickly, resulting in minimal loss of life, as they remembered the last major fire in 2003 when 15 people died and 5,000 buildings were destroyed.© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.

» More on this story... «

ITN | October 24, 2007

Tags:. .blotting. .counties. .news limited. .california. .battling