Deadly wildfires rage in California
At least nine people have been killed and more than 150,000 evacuated as two big wildfires rage in California, officials says.
Five people of the dead were found in cars in a town that was destroyed by the Camp Fire in the state’s north.
West of Los Angeles, the Woolsey Fire jumped a major highway and headed into coastal areas, including the town Calabasas and Malibu of where some homes are ablaze.
The blaze spread rapidly overnight and jumped Highway 101, a major route west of Los Angeles.
At midday on Friday local time (20:00 GMT), it covered about 14,000 acres (5,665 hectares). The California fire season normally begins in late spring and lasts through summer. But hot, dry weather has persisted this year well into autumn, and the winter rains have yet to arrive. The Santa Ana winds, which blow out of the Sierra Nevadas and toward the western coastline, are building into howling gales that dry the vegetation and the soil, creating potentially explosive fire conditions.
The fire broke out near Thousand Oaks, an area about 40 miles (64km) north-west of central Los Angeles where, prompting the evacuation of 75,000 homes.
Thousands more residents have now been ordered to evacuate from several more towns to the west of Thousand Oaks, including Calabasas immediately south of Highway 101 and Malibu on the coast, as well as from the western edge of Los Angeles.
Driven by hot desert winds, the wildfire raced into Paradise, devouring the equivalent of 80 football pitches a minute. Some motorists abandoned their cars and ran for their lives with children and pets in their arms.
Residents are now using social media to search for missing friends and family members.
