Prosecutors in California are to review evidence before deciding whether to charge a 12-year-old boy whose play with matches started a blaze that ripped through nearly 60 square miles and destroyed 21 homes.

A boy playing with matches started one of the Californian wildfires which destroyed 21 homes, police said today.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated and thousands of homes remain at risk tonight as wildfires tear through southern California, US authorities said.