Thousands flee wildfires in California

Two major wildfires in California have forced nearly 8,000 people out of their homes.

About 4,000 people evacuated and another 7,400 were told to prepare to leave their homes as fire swept through grassy foothills in the Sierra Nevada, about 60 miles north of Sacramento. In Southern California, at least 3,500 people evacuated as two fires exploded in size at separate ends of Santa Barbara County and a third one threatened homes near a town in San Luis Obispo County.

Firefighters have been able to build containment lines around about half the wildfire that forced the evacuation of hundreds of people near Breckenridge, Colorado.

The Canadian province's three biggest fires, which have grown in size to range from 23 to 49 square kilometers, have forced thousands of people to flee.