• Fire crews battle Angeles National Forest blaze

    Patrick Fallon / Reuters

    A wildfire burns the hillside during sunset in the Angeles National Forest near Glendora, California, on September 3, 2012.

    David McNew / Getty Images

    A U.S. Forest Service Hotshot crew member carries a chainsaw as firefighters work to contain the Williams fire in the Angeles National Forest on September 3, 2012 north of Glendora, California.

    Patrick Fallon / Reuters

    A cat walks past mobile homes in the Camp Williams Mobile Home Park as a wildfire burns on the hillside above in the Angeles National Forest near Azusa, California, September 3, 2012.

    NBC News staff and news services report — A wildfire in Southern California's Angeles National Forest that cut short weekend holiday plans for hikers and campers grew to 4,000 acres on Monday.

    The Williams fire prompted the evacuation of about 12,000 visitors who had flocked to campgrounds for the holiday weekend, The Associated Press reported. It sent a towering plume of smoke that could be seen from many parts of the Los Angeles basin. Read the full story.

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    In California, massive flames and smoke from a wildfire at the Angeles National Forest near Los Angeles, chased away thousands of holiday campers. TODAY's Natalie Morales reports.

     

  • Drought brings wildfires to Brazil

    Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters

    A firefighter walks through a burnt area after a fire in a rural area of Brazil, Sept. 3, 2012. Drought, high temperatures and low humidity have caused fires to start in several places of Brazil, according to officials.

    Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters

    Firefighters gather during efforts to extinguish a fire in rural Brazil, Sept. 3.

    Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters

    A man leads his horses away as firefighters try to extinguish a fire in rural Brazil, Sept. 3.

    Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters

    A plane drops fire retardant in rural Brazil, Sept. 3.

    Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters

    A Southern Crested Caracara stands on burnt farmland after a fire in rural Brazil, Sept. 3.

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  • Thousands evacuated from 'horrific' wildfire along Spain's southern coast

    Sergio Torres / AP

    A firefighting helicopter transporting a water bucket heads towards a fire in Ojen, southern Spain, on Aug. 31. Spanish officials say some 4,000 people have been evacuated from their houses as a wildfire abetted by strong winds spread rapidly through hills around the popular southern tourist city of Marbella.

    Sergio Torres / AP

    Firefighters work to control a raging forest fire as trees are engulfed in flames next to a road in Ojen, southern Spain, on Aug. 31.

    Jorge Guerrero / AFP - Getty Images

    A firefighter stands near the site of a wildfire in Ojen, near the town of Malaga, on Aug. 31. Some 4,000 people were evacuated from the area. More than 250 firefighters on the ground, backed by eight planes and nine helicopters, battled the blaze after hot, dry winds sent it racing through tinder-dry forest in southern Spain.

    Reuters -- A wildfire raging out of control along southern Spain's Costa del Sol killed one man, injured several people and forced the evacuation of thousands on the edge of the upmarket tourist resort of Marbella, regional authorities said on Friday.

    More than 300 firefighters were battling the flames, which had spread several kilometers along hilly ground behind the coast, and 31 planes and helicopters were dumping water on the blaze.

    Millions of tourists visit the Costa del Sol, famed for its beaches and nightlife, every year and hundreds of thousands of expatriates from northern Europe live on the coastal belt.

    "The fire is horrific, with flames 10 to 15 meters high," Angel Nozal, the mayor of Mijas, an inland town between Marbella and Malaga, told the national daily El Pais.

    The charred body of an elderly man was found in Ojen, north of Marbella, and a man and a woman in their fifties were taken to the city's Costa del Sol hospital after suffering serious burns, the regional government of Andalusia said.

    The fire broke out on Thursday near the port city of Malaga and raced westward through tinder-dry hilly countryside, fanned by strong winds and high temperatures.

    Continue reading.

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    Jorge Zapata / EPA

    A light aircraft sprays water with an extinguishing agent over a forest fire along a motorway in Calahonda, Malaga, southern Spain, on Aug. 31. Forest fires continue to expand due to the high temperatures and the fanning wind and forced the evacuation of thousands of people in the Sierra Negra (Black Mountains) the day before on 30 August 2012.

    Sergio Torres / AP

    Burnt out land is seen around a house atop a hill after a forest fire in Ojen, southern Spain, on Aug. 31.

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  • Idaho resort town ordered to evacuate over wildfire

    Handout / Reuters

    The Trinity Ridge Fire burns in Boise National Forest near Featherville, Idaho.

    Reuters: A 91,000-acre (38,800-hectare) wildfire in the Boise National Forest closed in from three directions on an Idaho mountain town on Monday as authorities worried about the safety of roughly 30 residents who have refused to evacuate.

    The Elmore County Sheriff's Office ordered evacuations over the weekend as thick smoke from the Trinity Ridge Fire posed a health hazard and limited visibility on the single road to Featherville, a popular summertime resort at the foot of the Trinity Mountains on the South Fork Boise River.  Continue reading the full story.

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  • Spain fights raging wildfires, firefighting budgets cut

    Pedro Armestre / AFP - Getty Images

    Firefighters work to put out a wildfire in Tabuyo del Monte near Leon, Spain, on Aug. 20. Numerous wildfires have broken out across Spain in the sweltering heat in recent weeks, an extra headache for authorities struggling to get the country out of its financial crisis and recession.

    Pedro Armestre / AFP - Getty Images

    A firefighter walks on the road while dark clouds from a wildfire billow behind him in Tabuyo del Monte near Leon on Aug. 20.

    Pedro Armestre / AFP - Getty Images

    Firefighters work to put out a wildfire in Tabuyo del Monte near Leon on Aug. 20.

    Pedro Armestre / AFP - Getty Images

    Firefighters work to put out a wildfire in Tabuyo del Monte near Leon on Aug. 20.

    Reuters -- Spain is facing its worst wildfires in a decade, after more than three times as much forest has burned so far this year than in the whole of 2011, while firefighting budgets have been slashed by up to a half as part of the drive to cut public spending.

    With the weather in Spain dryer and hotter than last year, it was not immediately clear whether the increase in wildfires this year was directly related to the cuts to firefighting budgets. But firefighters themselves were sure the two were linked and called for more investment in essential equipment and better compensation for the risks they face.

    "There were firefighters who could not get involved with the job of fighting the fires because they didn't even have gloves or boots," the newspaper quoted Antonio del Rio, of the Catalan firefighters' branch of the UGT trade  union, as saying.

    Continue reading.

    Pedro Armestre / AFP - Getty Images

    Firefighters work to put out a wildfire in Tabuyo del Monte near Leon on Aug. 20.

    Pedro Armestre / AFP - Getty Images

    A man walks on a path with a shovel while clouds from a wildfire billow behind him in Tabuyo del Monte near Leon on Aug. 20.

     

  • Razing dozens of trees to save property, as Washington wildfire nears

    Jim Seida / NBC News

    Felled in hopes of saving the property, a massive tree lies on the ground near the Huntley Lodge in Cle Elum, Wash., Thursday, Aug. 16. The owners of the lodge, Greg and Christi Huntley, decided to take the trees down to keep them from acting as fuel for the Taylor Bridge fire that was threatening their property.

    By Jim Seida

    "We've probably cut down a hundred trees," said Greg Huntley as he looked off the deck of one of the cabins that make up Huntley Lodge and Retreat. Huntley and his wife, Christi, bought the vacation getaway five years ago. "We just want to be as ready as we can," said Huntley about preparing for the approach of the Taylor Bridge Fire, a 23,000 acre wildfire in central Washington that has already claimed about 60 homes.

    As fire fighting helicopters roared overhead, the Huntleys and some hired help were setting up a 15,000 gallon above-ground pool, one of two they planned to fill with water from a small pond on their property below. They wanted as much water as possible on hand to douse everything before the fire, burning just up the hill, reached their property. But water being the hot commodity it is in an event like this, the helicopters, too, were drawing from the pond, coming in low and dipping their huge red buckets into the shallow water, taking advantage of the water's close proximity to the flames. Christi stopped working long enough to take pictures of the helicopters at work with her iPad. "This is the only time I've actually been scared," she said.

    Jim Seida / NBC News

    The Huntleys and employees of Huntley Lodge pitch in to assemble a 15,000 gallon above-ground pool at the lodge in Cle Elum, Wash., Thursday, Aug. 16, 2012. They planned to fill the pool and use the water in defense of the Taylor Bridge Fire, a 23,000 acre wildfire in central Washington.

    Jim Seida / NBC News

    As a last-ditch effort, a sprinkler is placed on the roof of one of the cabins at Huntley Lodge in Cle Elum, Wash. The sprinkler is intended to wet the roof as a last line of defense agains the Taylor Bridge Fire.

    The owner of a successful auto repair business in Seattle, Greg, sprung into action when he heard about the fire. "We're trying to be proactive rather than reactive," he said.  He bought pools, chain saws, hoses and pumps.  One pump is strong enough to necessitate the use of a two-inch fire hose. "It does huge volumes with lots of pressure so I can spray the trees," he said.  He even placed a sprinkler on the roof of each building. "That's the last thing we do before we leave, is turn on all the sprinklers," he said. Then he added, "I"m gonna stay here until they force me off the property."

    Even with all the activity, the helicopters, the pools, the sprinklers and the frenetic feel of getting ready for a fire, the jagged stumps of trees really stand out. Scores of trees were cut and dragged far enough away from the structures so as not to add additional fuel to the fire. Though, many of the biggest ones were still standing. "I hate to drop the trees directly around the lodge because those are 150 to 200-year-old trees," Greg said. "It would be a long time before they'd be back again."

    The Huntleys bought the lodge and its eight cabins five years ago to rent out to wedding parties and weekenders. At the time, the structures were in a state of neglect. "We've got over a million dollars invested in it, and that's after I bought the property," Greg said. "We absolutely love this place. We put our heart and soul into it over the last five years."

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  • Wildfires continue to burn, destroy homes in Central Washington

    Jim Seida / NBC News

    Flynn Harmon of Cle Elum, Wash. sits on his ATV holding Loner, a German Wirehaired Pointer while looking for his other dog, Frida. "I think she was just spooked with the helicopters flying overhead," Harmon said, "So I unlatched both of them and she just darted off into the trees over there. I've searched all that really well. I don't know if somebody possibly picked her up somewhere, I was gonna go start looking at the shelters." Helicopters are being used to try to extinguish the Taylor Bridge Fire, seen burning in the background. Thursday, Aug. 16.

    By Jim Seida

    The fire that has burned grasslands, sage and timber in central Washington since Monday has destroyed approximately 60 homes. More than 20,000 acres are burning and the flames are only 25% contained as temperatures are expected to climb through the end of the week.

    Jim Seida / NBC News

    Helicopters drop water on the Taylor Bridge Fire just east of Cle Elum, Wash., Thursday, Aug. 16.

    Firefighters continue to battle an out-of-control blaze threatening homes in Washington State. KING's Gary Chittim reports.

    More coverage: Lone house, surrounded by scorched earth, survives wildfire

  • Lone house, surrounded by scorched earth, survives wildfire

    Elaine Thompson / AP

    Flames surround a house, Aug. 14, 2012, on a hillside above Bettas Road near Cle Elum, Wash. Wildland firefighters on-site advised that the house survived the fire.

    Elaine Thompson / AP

    Surrounded by burnt brush and trees, the house shown above still stands, Aug. 15, after surviving a wildfire a day earlier, near Cle Elum, Wash.

    By NBC News and wire services

    Firefighters from around Washington state converged Wednesday on a wildfire that destroyed dozens of homes, just one of the blazes being fought across parched western states.

    But one house survived.

    "The house was saved by defensible space," Bryan Flint, Washington state Department of Natural Resources spokesman, told The Associated Press. "The placement of the driveway and the lack of trees and brush up against the house help prevent the flames from reaching the house."

    Where you choose to build your house on your property, what you build it out of and how you protect it will make your home more or less prone to fire risk, Rich Elliott, deputy fire chief, Kittitas Valley Fire and Rescue, told NBC News.

    “Those three things are 90 percent of the battle,” he said.

    “It’s not like in a city,” Elliott said. “Firefighters can’t overwhelm a (wild) fire.”

    But they can help deflect flames around defensible homes, he said. About 130 firefighters were in the area Tuesday and he could not be certain if any directly acted to save the house.

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    “We look for structures we can reasonably and safely defend,” Elliott said. About 130 firefighters were in the area Tuesday.

    Robert Angrisano, Kittitas Valley fire commissioner who was one of the firefighters in the area, told NBC News that the firefighters were not involved in saving the house.

    Firefighters in the first 24 hours of a wildlands blaze will pull vegetation away from homes and other structures and may wet down an area or spray foam ahead of approaching flames, Elliott said.

    Among points to consider in keeping a home safe is making sure debris isn’t collecting under a wood deck and keeping vegetation away from the home.

    Some neighborhoods saw nearly complete destruction during the Taylor Bridge fire, but some are fairly well-planned.

    He said Kittitas Valley department recommends the Firewise program.

    More than 800 firefighters were expected to help fight the Taylor Bridge fire in Eastern Washington, joined by 145 prison inmates and a couple of National Guard helicopters, according to NBC station KING in Seattle. 

    As of Wednesday the wind-driven fire had destroyed more than 70 homes and 28,000 acres southeast of Cle Elum, a city 80 miles east of Seattle, in Kittitas County. Continue reading.

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  • Wildfire scorches Wash. grasslands

    Elaine Thompson / AP

    A helicopter drops water taken from the adjacent Yakima River onto a wildfire by Highway 10 near Cle Elum, Wash. on Aug. 14, 2012. The fast-moving wildfire has burned 60 homes across nearly 40 square miles of central Washington grassland, timber and sagebrush. No injuries have been reported but more than 400 people have been forced to flee.

    By NBC News and wire services - A fire in central Washington grew rapidly overnight and destroyed more than 60 homes, spurring the state's governor to declare an emergency in two counties, NBC station KING of Seattle reported. Read More

    Elaine Thompson / AP

    Neighbors try to hold back flames from a house at left near Cle Elum, Wash. on Aug. 14. Moments later a sudden wind sent flames racing toward the volunteers and about a dozen people safely scrambled out of the way. The house was saved when a water truck was able to quickly save the home.

    Elaine Thompson / AP

    Flames curl as a water truck douses fire away from a house in Bettas Road near Cle Elum, Wash. on Aug. 14.

    Elaine Thompson / AP

    Neighbors race up a hillside to hold back flames on Bettas Road near Cle Elum, Wash. on Aug. 14.

    Elaine Thompson / AP

    A woman sits on the remains of a home that was destroyed in a wildfire the night before in Bettas Road near Cle Elum, Wash. on Aug. 14.

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  • Wildfires consume forests north of Alicante in Spain

    Pedro Armestre / AFP - Getty Images

    Members of the Spanish Army Emergency work on the fire in Torre de les Macanes near Alicante, on Aug. 13. Emergency teams battled through the night to quell the flames in the pine forests around Torre de les Macanes north of Alicante, which claimed their first victim, a member of the firefighting team, on Sunday.

    Pedro Armestre / AFP - Getty Images

    General view of the fire in Torre de les Macanes near Alicante, on Aug. 13.

    Pedro Armestre / AFP - Getty Images

    A member of the Spanish Emergency Army carries a fire hose in Torre de les Macanes during a forest fire near Alicante, on Aug. 13.

    Pedro Armestre / AFP - Getty Images

    Members of the Spanish Emergency Army work to extinguish a forest fire in Torre de les Macanes near Alicante, on Aug. 13.

    Previously on PhotoBlog: Thousands evacuated in Spain forest fires

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  • Thousands evacuated in Spain forest fires

     

    Pedro Armestre / AFP - Getty Images

    Firefighters of Alcoy and Elda try to extinguish a fire in Torre de Macanes, near Alicante, Spain, on August 13, 2012.

    Pedro Armestre / AFP - Getty Images

    Firefighters battle a fire in Torre de Macanes near Alicante on August 13, 2012.

    Reuters reports — More than 4,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in Spain's Canary Islands because of forest fires that are difficult to control due to a heatwave and strong winds, authorities said on Sunday.

    On the Spanish mainland two people were killed and three injured while trying to put out a fire in Torremanzanas, near the eastern city of Alicante, according to local media reports. 

     

    Andres Gutierrez / AP

    A plane works to extinguish a wildfire in La Gomera in Spain's Canary Islands on August 12, 2012.  

    Santiago Ferrero / Reuters

    People disembark from a ferry after being evacuated from Valle Gran Rey at San Sebastian de la Gomera port on the island of La Gomera on August 13, 2012.

    Pedro Armestre / AFP - Getty Images

    Firefighters try to extinguish a fire in Torre de Macanes near Alicante on August 13, 2012.

    An outbreak of wildfires across Spain have left at least two people dead, while hundreds are being evacuated from their homes. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

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