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$1bn damage in California fires
24/10/2007 22:32 - (SA)
Rob Woollard
Los Angeles - Fires raged across California for a fourth day on Wednesday as officials said property worth $1bn had gone up in smoke as President George W Bush declared the region a major disaster zone.
About 1 700 buildings have been reduced to charred rubble in 18 fires that have erupted since Sunday, forcing an estimated 500 000 people to flee their homes and scorching 172 000ha of tinder-dry countryside from celebrity-studded Malibu to beyond the Mexican border.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said three people had died and 40 people had been injured in the fires, which are the worst to hit California since devastating 2003 blazes in which 22 people died.
So far 1 664 structures, including 1 436 homes, have been destroyed while a further 25 000 buildings remained threatened, Schwarzenegger added.
The fast-spreading infernos have been fuelled by hot desert winds gusting across the region, making conditions hazardous for thousands of exhausted firefighters who have been tackling the flames.
Although the winds subsided slightly on Wednesday, firefighters said they were struggling to keep pace with the Hydra-like firestorm, which has stretched resources to breaking point.
President Bush formally declared the region a disaster zone, paving the way for federal funds to boost the relief effort.
About 8 900 firefighters - including 2 600 prison inmates trained to tackle fires - are battling the flames supported by 90 firefighting aircraft, including a DC-10, 25 air tankers and 40 helicopters.
- AFP
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