Fast-moving McKinney fire in California state goes from charring just over one square kilometre to scorching as much as 160 square kilometres in a largely rural area near the Oregon state line, say fire officials.
Destructive fires in recent years that burned too hot for forests to quickly regrow have far outpaced the US government's capacity to replant trees.
Much of the southwestern US has been in the grips of drought for decades and warmer temperatures have combined with spring winds to make for dangerous fire conditions.
The government has blamed arsonists and a blistering heatwave for dozens of blazes that have raged across the country's north since Monday, but experts have also criticised authorities for failing to prepare for the annual phenomenon.
A local prosecutor in Tizi Ouzou district, one of the worst hit by the fires, orders an investigation to identify the assailants in killing of 38-year-old Djamel Ben Ismail, who was lynched by a mob after being accused of setting fires.
Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis appoints a new minister in charge of recovery from natural disasters in a bid to defuse growing anger over the struggle to curb wildfires that have charred thousands of hectares of forest.
Algeria’s state TV says 12 soldiers are in hospital in critical condition with 28 others killed as residents flee to nearby towns in the worst-hit area of Tizi Ouzou.
Efforts continue from land, air in Milas, Koycegiz districts in southwest, Turkey's agriculture and forestry minister says.
Authorities say a water-bombing aircraft struggled to operate in Evia, Greece's second largest island, because of the large plumes of smoke blanketing the area. PM Mitsotakis said the citizens will be compensated for properties lost.
Forest fires have reached more residential areas of southern Turkey, forcing evacuations after the firefighters and volunteers helped contain 152 fires since July 28.
As the heat wave scorching the eastern Mediterranean intensified, temperatures reached 42 degrees Celsius in parts of the Greek capital.
From storms in the Atlantic, wildfires in California, killer floods in Asia and Africa, melting of the Arctic and bushfires in Australia, 2020 was more than a disastrous year with the pandemic.
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