Five Dead As California Wildfire Force Evacuations

officials say at least five people have been killed and more than 150,000 evacuated as two big wildfires rage in California.

West of Los Angeles, the Woolsey Fire has jumped a major highway and is now threatening coastal areas, including the town of Malibu.

Further north near Sacramento, the five victims were found in cars in a town that was destroyed by t0he Camp Fire.

Both fires are moving fast, fanned by strong winds.

The fire broke out near Thousand Oaks, an area about 40 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday, prompting the evacuation of 75,000 homes.

Thousands more residents have now been ordered to evacuate from several more towns to the west of Thousand Oaks, including Calabasas immediately south of Highway 101 and Malibu on the coast, as well as from the western edge of Los Angeles.

By Jeff Turner (Fire At Night) [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Calabasas and Malibu are home to numerous celebrities and some have been posting on social media, including reality TV star Kim Kardashian. On Instagram she urged people to “pray for Calabasas”. “Just landed back home and had one hour to pack up and evacuate our home. I pray everyone is safe,” she wrote.

Her husband, the rapper Kanye West, said their family was “safe and close”.

Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro tweeted that he had evacuated, leaving behind his “Bleak House” museum collection of fantasy and horror memorabilia.

Paul Ayorinde

Written by BoomRadioNG