California on fire by Zuzana Zelenakova It is quite hot these days in California an it is not only because of summer heat but mainly due to incredible number of wildfires that endanger mainly northern California. The situation is so grave that President Bush declared on Saturday a state of emergency in this area. Firefighters were fighting around 1,400 wildfires back then. U.S. Forest Service officials said that fires this summer are likely to be more frequent than in recent years and the reason why is insufficient rainfall which is lower than average and also the fact that wildfires began to appear so early in the season, usually they peak in late July and August. Most of the fires were caused by lightning in dry wilderness areas. It began on 21 June when the weather was unusually stormy and lightnings were very frequent in the sky. One of the largest wildfires is burning near the coastal town of Big Sur, located south of San Francisco. Since the weather is not expected to improve to help stop the fires firefighters and also soldiers that are helping have some tough time ahead of them. Since there are so many fires currently burning in California the officials had to adopt a strategy according to which they will deal only with certain fires strategically chosen and the others will be left to burn out by themselves, which may take weeks or even months. “We have to take a step back, figure out where the best place is to make a stand and sometimes wait for the fire to come to us in those situations,” said Jason Kirchner, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service. “It´s like eating an elephant – you´ve got to eat it one bite at a time.” Although around 570 square miles have already burned in California fortunately there have been no severe injuries either to the civilians or firefighters. related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080630/ap_on_re_us/wildfires;_ylt=AihRy6IRGYbTDNumAWftYUGs0NUEby Zuzana Zelenakovafor PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)PocketNews is a new real-time news broadcaster delivering the latest and hottest news right to your pocket ! With global clients who want to be kept up to date, PocketNews is everyone's way of keeping in touch with the World.<br><br><font size=2>These news are original content from young talents around the world and are selected for you by Chris Cantell.</font><br>edited by Beata Biskova

It is quite hot these days in California an it is not only because of summer heat but mainly due to incredible number of wildfires that endanger mainly northern California. The situation is so grave that President Bush declared on Saturday a state of emergency in this area. Firefighters were fighting around 1,400 wildfires back then. U.S. Forest Service officials said that fires this summer are likely to be more frequent than in recent years and the reason why is insufficient rainfall which is lower than average and also the fact that wildfires began to appear so early in the season, usually they peak in late July and August. Most of the fires were caused by lightning in dry wilderness areas. It began on 21 June when the weather was unusually stormy and lightnings were very frequent in the sky. One of the largest wildfires is burning near the coastal town of Big Sur, located south of San Francisco. Since the weather is not expected to improve to help stop the fires firefighters and also soldiers that are helping have some tough time ahead of them. Since there are so many fires currently burning in California the officials had to adopt a strategy according to which they will deal only with certain fires strategically chosen and the others will be left to burn out by themselves, which may take weeks or even months. “We have to take a step back, figure out where the best place is to make a stand and sometimes wait for the fire to come to us in those situations,” said Jason Kirchner, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service. “It´s like eating an elephant – you´ve got to eat it one bite at a time.” Although around 570 square miles have already burned in California fortunately there have been no severe injuries either to the civilians or firefighters.

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080630/ap_on_re_us/wildfires;_ylt=AihRy6IRGYbTDNumAWftYUGs0NUE

by Zuzana Zelenakova for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

PocketNews is a new real-time news broadcaster delivering the latest and hottest news right to your pocket ! With global clients who want to be kept up to date, PocketNews is everyone's way of keeping in touch with the World.<br><br><font size=2>These news are original content from young talents around the world and are selected for you by Chris Cantell.</font><br>

edited by Beata Biskova