“We’re deeply grateful to our incredible firefighters and first responders,” Trump said. “They’re really brave people, I’ve been watching them go to areas where very few people would go and some of them don’t come out alive.”
“California wildfires are being magnified & made so much worse by the bad environmental laws which aren’t allowing massive amount of readily available water to be properly utilized,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “It is being diverted into the Pacific Ocean.”
President Trump signed a ‘Major Disaster’ declaration on Saturday paving the way for California to receive fire mitigation funds and recovery grants and low-cost loans for Shasta County individuals and business owners.
Data suggest that the number of U.S. wildfires has diminished, and the size of fires has increased, partly due to the federal government slashing the number of air tankers, and changing the way fires are fought — not just because of “climate change.”
The U.S. National Preparedness Center issued its highest Level 5 alert on Tuesday as 63 of the 177 large wildfires burning across America are rated “uncontained.”
RAFINA, Greece (AP) — The death toll from twin wildfires that raged through Greek seaside areas looked set to increase to around 50 Tuesday after rescue crews reported finding the bodies of more than 20 people huddled closely together near a beach northeast of the capital, Athens.
CalFire reported 18 major wildfires as of noon on July 3, including the “County Fire,” which, in total, had already burned 72,500 acres and were less than 15 percent contained as of Tuesday.
A fire brigade spokesman spoke of his disbelief after a police helicopter assisting in the operation to extinguish a number of major wildfires in the north of England spotted arsonists deliberately setting new fires in the tinder-dry grassland nearby.
Authorities in Colorado arrested an illegal alien Saturday who they accuse of starting a series of wildfires that destroyed over 38,000 acres of land.
A man in the state of Washington who burned an American flag blanket over the Memorial Day weekend ended up starting a five-acre wildfire, according to local authorities.
In the introductory portion of his speech, Trump addressed the recent emergencies and natural disasters that had struck California and the rest of the nation, sounding a unifying theme right from the outset.
The Thomas fire, which has scorched more that 270,000 acres in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties in Southern California, is set to become the largest in the Golden State’s history, according to predictions by AccuWeather.com.
Downtown Santa Barbara, normally a vibrant holiday destination, is virtually empty as residents have evacuated the area ahead of the advancing Thomas fire, which continues to spread west, though firefighters are making progress.
Firefighter Cory Iverson, 32 died Thursday while fighting the deadly Thomas fire, which is raging across Santa Barbara and Ventura counties in Southern California.
Firefighters in Santa Barbara County are racing to finish containment lines to restrain the Thomas fire before high winds arrive on Friday evening that could push the blaze further west and threaten the city of Santa Barbara itself.
Southern California Edison has been informed by authorities that its equipment is being investigated as a possible cause of some of the fires that have raged across the region for the past week.
Officials said Tuesday afternoon that the Skirball fire was likely caused by homeless people cooking in an encampment near the 405 Freeway, which was shut down by the blaze last Wednesday.
The Thomas fire in Ventura County and Santa Barbara County was still blazing strong as of Tuesday morning, while Southern California’s other wildfires were largely contained.
The California fire known as the Thomas fire, which has scorched Ventura County and now Santa Barbara County, is now the fifth-largest in the history of the state, reaching an extent of 230,000 acres on Sunday with only 10% containment.
New fires continued to spread throughout Southern California from Thursday into Friday as firefighters battled to contain those fires that have already been burning throughout the week, and dangerous weather persisted.
A new fire broke out early Wednesday morning near the 405 Freeway in Los Angeles, shutting down the busiest road in the United States in the midst of the early commute.
Several wildfires in Southern California continued to blaze out of control into Wednesday morning, as firefighters reported “zero containment” on the Thomas fire near Ventura and the Creek fire near Sylmar in Los Angeles.
A masive wildfire that erupted overnight and burned over 30,000 acres has forced 27,000 people in Ventura County to evacuate their homes as 150 structures were destroyed, according to reports from local news and wire services.
President Donald Trump delivered a Thanksgiving message video to the American people, praising the new economic spirit filling the nation.
Some veterans spent this past summer back on the battlefield fighting wildfires in the western United States.
Recent wildfires in Northern California have once again sparked multiple posts on Facebook by people desperately trying to find family members in the affected areas who they haven’t been able to contact.
Cooler weather brought on by onshore winds helped more than 1600 firefighters knock down the “Canyon Fire 2” that ravaged the Orange County hillsides around Anaheim, Tustin, and Orange Monday and Tuesday.
California fire authorities listed 82 active fires burning across the state, with the worst devastation in the Wine Country, where nine major fires have burnt over 84,000 acres, causing at least 15 deaths and leaving 240 residents missing.
Massive wind-fueled wildfires burned out of control in Napa and Sonoma counties early Monday, destroying an unknown number of structures, forcing school closures and the evacuation of thousands of people as major thoroughfares were shut down by the fast-moving infernos.
Did you hear the scary rumor at the weekend that President Trump was about to renege on his promise to quit the UN Paris Climate Agreement?
LISBON (AFP) – Forest fires cut off a village of 2,000 people in Portugal, as firefighters struggled Thursday to control two major blazes in the centre of the country, local officials said.
BORMES-LES-MIMOSAS, France (AP) — Backed by planes dropping water and fire retardant, more than 1,000 firefighters battled wildfires Wednesday that billowed smoke into the sky over France’s southern Cote d’Azur coast and forced the evacuation of at least 12,000 people.
President Donald Trump directed the U.S.D.A. to open up lands restricted by the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) in three states that lost millions of acres and thousands of head of livestock from wildfires. “After touring a family ranch in Ashland, Kan.,
TEL AVIV – Fires in nine localities across Israel have been deemed acts of arson and possibly terrorism, rendering victims eligible to receive compensation from state emergency funds for victims of terror.
TEL AVIV – One-third of the fires raging across the country are suspected to have been caused by arson, Israel police said Sunday.
TEL AVIV – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday evening for Palestinian assistance in battling wildfires that have raged throughout the country since Tuesday, forcing tens of thousands to evacuate their homes. The Palestinian Authority
TEL AVIV – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that there was “evidence of arson” relating to the wildfires sweeping across Israel. “Our first goal is saving lives and I ask residents to do exactly what the authorities ask of
TEL AVIV – Israeli NGO IsraAid is sending a humanitarian delegation to Louisiana to assist flood victims in salvaging their property, return to their homes, and begin the process of rehabilitation.
Wildfires raged across northern Israel Saturday as temperatures soared into the upper 90s and lower 100s Fahrenheit.
The New York Times reports: EDMONTON, Alberta — As evacuees from the Fort McMurray wildfire arrive at shelters, hotels and homes of friends here, many say they now have a taste of what a wave of refugees experienced in Syria before they made it to Canada a few months ago.
