Firefighter dies as Californian fires continue to rage
A firefighter has been killed fighting the Californian wildfires that are still raging across the American state.
The man was killed and three of his colleagues were burned, one severely, when the wind suddenly changed direction and the fire jumped a highway, engulfing a fire truck.
Over 13,000 firefighters are struggling to tackle the blazes that have killed 18 people and destroyed over 660,000 acres of land. More than 2,200 homes have also been destroyed and the cost of the damage is estimated to be more than $2 billion.
The 10 separate fires, stretching from Mexico up to the Los Angeles suburbs, are the worst the notoriously hot and dry state has suffered in over a century
New Californian governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger has flown to Washington DC to ask for further federal funds to help combat the blazes. More firefighters are expected to be drafted in from Nevada to help those in California who are becoming exhausted after more than a week of battling the flames.
Although the hot, dry Santa Ana winds that were fanning the flames have now died down, winds from the coast are threatening to drive the fire up mountainsides into the San Bernardino National Forest. Many of the trees there are large dead pine trees killed by drought and a beetle infestation and just waiting to burn.
Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes and thousands of schools and business are shut as air pollution is increasing and smoke envelopes many communities.
