Thousands flee California fire 'in the sky'Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) - Thousands of people fled raging wildfires in southern California which destroyed homes and triggered evacuations at a nuclear power plant, a military base and a Legoland amusement park.
The blazes, which also closed a major north-south highway, come amid record temperatures in the western US state, where the annual wildfire season typically starts much later in the year.
At least 15 buildings have been destroyed, including three homes, said Michael Davis, fire chief in the seaside resort of Carlsbad, north of San Diego.
"At times it looks like there’s fire in the sky with the wind whipping back and forth," eyewitness Ryan Marble, waiting in a long line at a gas station to get fuel to evacuate, told The Los Angeles Times newspaper.
About a dozen non-essential staff at the San Onofre nuclear power plant were evacuated "as a precaution" due to a nearby brush fire, the plant said on its Twitter feed.
Twenty thousand people were asked to evacuate their homes near San Diego on Tuesday night, although the order was later lifted as firefighters got the upper hand on the blaze.
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