Californians told to prepare for mass evacuation

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Californians told to prepare for mass evacuation

http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=1 ... id=3510212



California's Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, has urged the residents of Los Angeles to prepare for a mass evacuation in the event of a public call to flee raging fires.

Wildfires in the US Golden State, razing around 35,000 acres (over 14,000 hectares) of bush land, are threatening 13,000 properties just north of Los Angeles.

The ravaging flames, fanned by the weak Pacific Ocean breeze and fueled by incoming arid weather system from the west midlands United States, have thus far forced thousands out of their homes in the vicinity of the ongoing inferno.

The blaze has caused mandatory evacuations of around 7,000 California houses close to the valleys around the Big Tujunga Canyon, Schwarzenegger told reporters on Monday.

He warned Californians about the pace in which the flames continue to engulf the residential areas, calling upon them to heed local officials' demands for evacuation.

Over 2,000 fire fighters, aided by 12 helicopters and heavy machineries, have so far been able to contain only five percent of the flames.

At least four people, including a firefighter, have so far received serious burns in the inferno.

State authorities have been unable to establish the true scale of devastation created by the consuming blaze.

Plumes of smoke are now seen drifting across the Los Angeles sky as a number of other fires also continue to incinerate parts of southern and central California.

ARQN/SME/MMN
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