Blazes

He ran like blazes.

Fatigued firefighters battled gusting winds fanning multiple blazes.

Fanned by erratic winds in fuel-choked, tinder-dry forests and scrub, the California blazes have torched 468,467 acres (189,580 hectares) so far this year, destroyed 1,823 homes and structures, and killed at least eight people.

In the vast state along the Pacific Ocean, officials said that 150,000 residents have been displaced as high winds and tinder-dry conditions have helped fuel blazes that have torched more than 1,000 square kilometers of forest lands, residential communities and business districts.

There is a lot of concern this week about fires in Greenland as part of the unusual spike in Arctic blazes.

Go to blazes!

Twenty-four people have died since the blazes began.

The pines were protected from huge blazes near Sydney by water-bombing aircraft and specialist firefighters, who were winched into a narrow gorge by helicopter.

Heavy rain has fallen across southeastern Australia, offering some relief for fire crews battling dozens of blazes, but there are concerns the wet weather could cause landslides and flash flooding.

While wildfires continue to scorch the land on the western side of the United States, smoke has spread far beyond the edges of the blazes.