GORMAN: Firefighters with air support scrambled to control a wind-driven wildfire that erupted Thursday morning in hills along Interstate 5 in northwestern Los Angeles County, officials said.
The King Fire, which broke out around 1 a.m., charred nearly a square mile (2.5 square kilometers) of tinder-dry brush in a lightly populated area about 60 miles (100 kilometers) north of downtown LA.
An RV park was ordered to shelter in place and residents of remote homes were under evacuation warnings. The blaze was 40 percent contained as of the evening, the Angeles National Forest reported on the social platform X.
The California Highway Patrol closed some highway lanes as crews battled flames that raced along hillsides before dawn. Off- and on-ramps were closed near Smokey Bear Road, along with several surrounding roads just north of Pyramid Lake in a mountainous area known for hiking and boating.
The blaze is burning a few miles north of the Canyon Fire, which prompted evacuations, destroyed seven structures and injured three firefighters after breaking out Aug. 7. It was fully contained Thursday morning after charring more than 8 square miles (22 square kilometers) of LA and Ventura counties.
Firefighters were also battling a blaze in northern Los Angeles County that ballooned to 400 acres (162 hectares) and resulted in one firefighter suffering a minor injury, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. The Hawk Fire was 6 percent contained Thursday evening and firefighters stopped its forward progress.
Residents in the area around the fire in the small community of Acton were initially ordered to evacuate, but that was later downgraded, with officials telling them to be prepared to evacuate, according to the fire department. A recreation center in Palmdale was opened for people forced to leave their homes.
The Gifford Fire, California’s largest blaze so far this year, has scorched nearly 207 square miles (536 square kilometers) of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties since erupting on Aug. 1. It was 41 percent contained on Thursday.
Wildfire risk is elevated because Southern California has seen very little rain, drying out vegetation and making it “ripe to burn,” the National Weather Service for Los Angeles warned in a statement last week.
Firefighters make progress against fast-moving blaze along highway north of Los Angeles
https://arab.news/4j9ed
Firefighters make progress against fast-moving blaze along highway north of Los Angeles
- Officials say the King Fire charred nearly a square mile of tinder-dry brush in a lightly populated area about 60 miles north of downtown LA.
- Firefighters were also battling a blaze in northern Los Angeles County that officials say had ballooned to 400 acres and was 6 percent contained Thursday evening
Blair dropped from Gaza ‘peace board’ after Arab objections
- Former UK PM was viewed with hostility over role in Iraq War
- He reportedly met Netanyahu late last month to discuss plans
LONDON: Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has been withdrawn from the US-led Gaza “peace council” following objections by Arab and Muslim countries, The Guardian reported.
US President Donald Trump has said he would chair the council. Blair was long floated for a prominent role in the administration, but has now been quietly dropped, according to the Financial Times.
Blair had been lobbying for a position in the postwar council and oversaw a plan for Gaza from his Tony Blair Institute for Global Change that involved Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.
Supporters of the former British leader cited his role in the Good Friday Agreement, which ended decades of conflict and violence in Northern Ireland.
His detractors, however, highlighted his former position as representative of the Middle East Quartet, made up of the UN, EU, Russia and US, which aimed to bring about peace in the Middle East.
Furthermore, Blair’s involvement in the Iraq War is viewed with hostility across the Arab world.
After Trump revealed his 20-point plan to end the Israel-Hamas war in September, Blair was the only figure publicly named as taking a potential role in the postwar peace council.
The US president supported his appointment and labeled him a “very good man.”
A source told the Financial Times that Blair’s involvement was backed by the US and Israel.
“The Americans like him and the Israelis like him,” the person said.
The US plan for Gaza was criticized in some quarters for proposing a separate Gaza framework that did not include the West Bank, stoking fears that the occupied Palestinian territories would become separate polities indefinitely.
Trump said in October: “I’ve always liked Tony, but I want to find out that he’s an acceptable choice to everybody.”
Blair is reported to have held an unpublicized meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late last month to discuss plans.
His office declined to comment to The Guardian, but an ally said the former prime minister would not be sitting on Gaza’s “board of peace.”
