About 60,000 residents of the city of Irvine, in the southwest of the US state of California, are being evacuated due to a wildfire that broke out on Monday. More than 800 hectares have already gone up in flames, local authorities report.
The fire threatens parts of the city of Irvine, which is home to approximately 210,000 people, according to the latest 2010 census. Strong wind ensures that the fire can spread very quickly. How the fire started is still unclear.
About five hundred firefighters fight the fire from the air and with fire-fighting teams on the ground.
Code red is in many parts of California because of high fire hazards from high winds and extreme heat. At the moment, according to authorities, there are 22 fires in the state that are being fought by roughly 4,000 firefighters.
US energy company PG&E has cut off power to more than 350,000 homes and businesses in the central and northern parts of the state as a precaution. The company cut the electricity to prevent high-voltage cables from starting new forest fires.
This year, PG&E has cut power four times earlier for fear that falling electrical wires will cause flames in an area that is dry from heat and drought. Most connections will not receive electricity again until Tuesday evening because the wind is expected to have decreased sufficiently by then.
California has been hit hard this year by wildfires that burned some 1.6 million acres of nature and reduced buildings to ashes. A record amount of $ 229 million (195 million euros) in damage was done.
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