Wildfires continue to blaze in the USA by Steph Ball
Strong winds are fuelling a massive wildfire which is blazing along the Georgia – Florida border in the USA. The blaze which is thought to have been first ignited by a lightning bolt over a week ago has engulfed over 380 square miles (984 sq. kilometres) in all.
Winds gusting to 25mph (40kph) has helped spread the fire quickly which has hampered firefighters efforts to contain the blaze. Hundreds of Florida residents have been evacuated and many schools in the area were closed as a precaution. Several major roads in the vicinity have been closed. Choking smoke from the fire greatly reduced visibility across a vast swathe of area and caused problems for drivers and residents across both States.
By Monday morning about 30 percent of the blaze had been contained, and the smoke haze lifted enough to allow firefighting aircrafts to take off to aid in extinguishing the fierce flames.
This spring has been a very active season for wildfires as a huge number have broken out across many parts of the USA. Last year 2006 was reported to the worst fire season in half a century, with around 10 million acres of woodland burned.
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