Thousands of people have been forced to flee two wildfires burning out of control on the outskirts of Los Angeles.
“They haven’t merged as of yet but they are being handled as one fire,” Maria Holguin, a spokeswoman for the US Forest Service, said. “They are 0% contained.”
The fires come as a searing heatwave grips the region. Firefighters are being hindered by rugged terrain including a canyon and are burning in Duarte and Azusa, towns in the Angeles national forest east of LA. Combined they cover 5400 acres.
More than 600 firefighters backed by air tankers and helicopters have battled the flames since Monday and reinforcements were likely to be called soon, Holguin said.
