Huge fire at Sariska tiger reserve, IAF choppers deployed to put out blaze

 Over 200 people and two Indian Air Force helicopters were pressed into service to control a wildfire spread over 10 sq km of the Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan’s Alwar, officials said on Tuesday.

Over 200 people and two Indian Air Force helicopter were pressed into service to control a wildfire spread over 10 sq km of the Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan’s Alwar, officials said on Tuesday.

The fire had started on Sunday evening and was brought under control on Monday. A few hours later in the evening, the forest fire flared again and was continuing till Tuesday evening. The Forest Department asked people of nearby villages not to enter the forest area. The officials said no tiger is stuck in the affected area and their movement is being monitored. The Sariska reserve has 27 tigers, they added. Earlier looking at the situation, the district administration sought air assistance from the IAF, which deployed two Mi-17 V5 helicopters to control the fire.

Sariska Field Director R N Meena said the forest staff, nature guides and local people are engaged in efforts to control the fire but they are facing difficulties due to hilly terrain, he said. The fire on hills has been partially controlled, Meena added. District Forest Officer (Sariska) Sudharshan Sharma said the helicopters have made eight rounds till Tuesday evening. The fire has spread over 10 sq km area and efforts are being made to control it. “The area under fire is at a height due to which there are difficulties in firefighting,” he said.

California wildfire explodes, burning across 25 miles in day

A Northern California wildfire burning for more than three weeks roared to life after being stoked by high winds, spreading at a ferocious rate across an estimated 40 kilometres of mountainous terrain

A Northern California wildfire burning for more than three weeks roared to life after being stoked by high winds, spreading at a ferocious rate across an estimated 40 kilometres of mountainous terrain and parched foothills and destroying an untold number of homes. As thick smoke choked the air on Wednesday and cast an eerie orange hue across much of the region, thousands of people in communities near Oroville were ordered to evacuate. The fire even threatened the town of Paradise that was devastated just two years ago by the deadliest blaze in state history, causing a panic that led to a traffic jam as residents tried to escape.

Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, said the fire had conservatively burned about 1,036 square kilometers in 24 hours. “The unbelievable rates of spread now being observed on these fires it is historically unprecedented,” Swain tweeted. The North Complex fire was one of more than two dozen in the state, including three of five largest ever as wildfires burned across parts of the West amid gusty, dry conditions. Forecasters said some weather relief was in sight that could help firefighters overwhelmed by the blazes.

In Washington, more acres burned in a single day than firefighters usually see all year. Fires also forced people to flee homes in Oregon and Idaho. A blast of polar air helped slow wildfires in Colorado and Montana.Since the middle of August, fires in California have killed eight people, destroyed more than 3,600 structures, burned old growth redwoods, charred chaparral and forced evacuations in communities near the coast, in wine country and along the Sierra Nevada.