Fires

Australia & Oceania 01/07/20, 07:47

Authorities said over two dozens people in the state of New South Wales have been charged with intentionally setting Australia bushfires. On Monday, Jan. 6, the New South Wales police said that it has taken legal action against over 180 people for fire-related offenses since early November 2019. Among over 180 people ...

Australia & Oceania 01/07/20, 06:46

Rain and cooler temperatures on Monday, Jan. 6, brought some relief to Australian communities battling the devastating wildfires that have ravaged the country. But the rain was also making it challenging for fire crews attempting to complete strategic burns as they tried to prepare for higher temperatures that have been forecast ...

Australia & Oceania 12/30/19, 09:18

"If you leave your front door unlocked, you can't complain too loudly when someone steals your TV," argued Tom Marland, an agribusiness lawyer based in Bundaberg, Queensland. "It's the same with bush fires," he added. Marland explained that Australia's failed environmental policies would be responsible for the wildfires that recur year ...

U.S. 11/28/19, 09:14

More than 50,000 people in East Texas remained under a mandatory evacuation order Thursday as a fire continued to burn at a chemical plant, one day after two massive explosions there. Jefferson County Sheriff Zena Stephens said the evacuation order and a 10 p.m. curfew order remain in effect. Officials don’t ...

U.S. 11/28/19, 01:44

Two massive explosions 13 hours apart tore through a Texas chemical plant Wednesday, and one left three workers injured. The blasts blew out windows and doors of nearby homes and prompted a mandatory evacuation of a 4-mile (7-kilometer) radius from the plant in Port Neches in Southeast Texas, about 80 miles ...

U.S. 11/27/19, 22:23

Five people died and three were injured when a fire broke out on the 14th floor of a public housing high-rise in a heavily immigrant neighborhood of Minneapolis early Wednesday. While the cause of the blaze was still under investigation, Fire Chief John Fruetel told reporters that investigators believe the fire ...

U.S. 11/02/19, 22:05

Authorities lifted evacuation orders for a farm community Saturday as firefighters make progress on a large wildfire in Southern California that continues to threaten about 2,500 homes and buildings. Ventura County officials allowed an unknown number of residents in Somis to return home Saturday morning after firefighters contained 30% of the ...

U.S. 11/01/19, 16:42

California Democrats hoped they would finally bask in the attention of presidential candidates when they moved their primary to the front of the calendar. But as the state battles the twin disasters of wildfires and mass power outages, White House hopefuls are nowhere to be found. In a field of nearly ...

Asia & Pacific 10/31/19, 04:49

A massive fire caused by a cooking gas stove erupted Thursday on a train traveling in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province, killing at least 71 passengers, officials said. Flames roared through the train cars as the train approached the town of Liaquatpur in Punjab, they said, the latest tragedy to hit Pakistan's ...

U.S. 10/30/19, 18:49

A wind-whipped outbreak of wildfires outside Los Angeles on Wednesday threatened thousands of homes and horse ranches, forced the smoky evacuation of elderly patients in wheelchairs and narrowly bypassed the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, protected in part by a buffer zone chewed by goats. With California tinder dry and fires burning ...

U.S. 10/30/19, 07:19

Californians on Wednesday found themselves facing winds, wildfires and darkness from yet another power outage that hit more than 1 million people. Frustration and anger mounted across Northern California as Pacific Gas & Electric, the state's largest utility, began its third round of sweeping blackouts in a week aimed at preventing ...

U.S. 10/30/19, 04:36

Authorities say three people were fatally shot and nine others injured at a home in Long Beach, California. The Los Angeles Times reports that Long Beach fire spokesman Jake Heflin says firefighters arrived at the home around 10:44 p.m. on Tuesday to a scene "filled with chaos." First responders were seen outside ...

South America 10/29/19, 04:50

Fresh protests and attacks on businesses erupted in Chile Monday despite President Sebastián Piñera's replacement of eight key Cabinet ministers with more centrist figures and his attempts to assure the country he has heard calls for greater equality and improved social services. Thousands of protesters crowded again into central Santiago, and ...

U.S. 10/29/19, 01:02

Millions of Californians prepared to be in the dark — some for five days, or longer — as the nation's largest utility said it was switching off power again Tuesday to prevent powerful winds from damaging its equipment and sparking more fires. Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. said its latest blackout ...

U.S. 10/29/19, 00:27

Crews fought Tuesday to drown, slash and smother wildfires that have incinerated dozens of homes in Northern and Southern California before returning windstorms can blow them back into furious life. In California's wine country, firefighters worked to reinforce fire lines in western Sonoma County while rushing to shore up the eastern ...

U.S. 10/28/19, 22:18

A wildfire swept through the star-studded hills of Los Angeles on Monday, destroying several large homes and forcing LeBron James and thousands of others to flee. Meanwhile, a blaze in Northern California wine country exploded in size. The flames that roared up a steep hillside near the J. Paul Getty Museum ...

U.S. 10/27/19, 16:28

California's governor declared a statewide emergency Sunday after officials ordered nearly 200,000 people to leave their homes as hurricane-force winds drove multiple wildfires through bone-dry vegetation. Meanwhile, the state's largest utility cut electricity to millions of residents as a precaution to prevent more areas from igniting. Gov. Gavin Newsom said in ...

U.S. 10/26/19, 14:57

Authorities ordered at least 50,000 residents to evacuate towns near a massive Northern California wildfire Saturday, and the state's largest utility announced power shut-offs for an estimated 2.35 million people due to forecasts of severe winds and extreme fire danger. Two previous electricity shut-offs in recent weeks were carried out amid ...

U.S. 10/24/19, 02:31

Dangerously windy weather sweeping through the state brought power outages to Northern California as the state's largest utility staged blackouts designed to prevent catastrophic wildfires. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. on Wednesday began rolling blackouts stretching from the Sierra foothills in the northeast to portions of the San Francisco Bay Area. ...

Europe 10/21/19, 03:51

Firefighters say a fire has burned about one-fourth of the roof of Turin's Cavallerizza Reale, a UNESCO World Heritage site in the center of the northern Italian city, hitting an area of the building once used for the royal stables. Firefighters rushed to the scene early Monday and managed to put ...