First summer wildfires rage in United States

The first major US wildfire of the summer raced across more than 5,500 acres of tinder-dry desert brush, destroying at least seven homes, threatening hundreds of others and sending residents of Morongo Valley fleeing for their lives.

A second fire, about 35 miles away, burned across more than 2,000 acres but did not threaten any structures, authorities said.

The larger blaze started when a single home went up in flames yesterday and those flames quickly spread into nearby desert brush and tall field grass.

Elsewhere, fire crews fought back fast-moving flames approaching Arizona communities near a national forest. Two lightning-sparked brush fires blackened 12,500 acres, forcing the evacuation of 175 people from homes in the area. No injuries were reported.

“It’s a helpless feeling,” said one evacuee, Bill Victor. “It’s something to see the flames come over and shocking to realise that you could lose everything.”

In California, wildfires hopscotched up and down hillsides and canyons about 100 miles east of central Los Angeles. The fires threatened as many as 700 homes for a time, and hundreds of people fled their homes, some with nothing, others with just a handful of possessions.

Bill Peters, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection in San Bernardino, said the blaze was 10% contained.

More than 300 firefighters were tackling the blaze, with more reinforcements being called in, Peters said. One firefighter suffered a minor knee injury.