In California, on Thursday, 7 August 2025 (local time), the so-called “Canyon Fire” broke out about 60 kilometres northwest of Los Angeles [1, 2, 3, 4]. It spread rapidly within a few hours and burned almost 22 square kilometres of hilly terrain by Sunday [1]. The authorities evacuated parts of Los Angeles and Ventura. By Friday, around 4,200 residents were affected and others were advised to prepare [3]. With almost 1,200 firefighters on the ground, the fire was more than 45% contained by Sunday [1, 2, 3, 4].
The National Interagency Fire Centre (NIFC) in the United States currently reports a total of 38 large wildfires covering an area of around 2,600 square kilometres [1]. The largest of these, the so-called “Gifford Fire”, is also located in California, in a forest area in the centre of the state. More than 400 square kilometres are already affected there [1, 3].
[1] Brände in Kalifornien: Das Gifford-Feuer breitet sich immer weiter aus | FAZ (accessed on 11.08.2025)
[2] Kalifornien: Waldbrand nahe Los Angeles breitet sich rasant aus – DER SPIEGEL (accessed on 11.08.2025)
[3] Neues Feuer bei Los Angeles breitet sich rasch aus | tagesschau.de (accessed on 11.08.2025)
[4] Feuer in Kalifornien: „Canyon Fire“ breitet sich nordwestlich von Los Angeles auf 20 Quadratkilometer aus – n-tv.de (accessed on 11.08.2025)
(Image source: Pixabay)