Setting Backfires News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

And abc says it's a light temperature thing. >> bingo. >> shepard: wild fire alert. it's horrible in southern california. five major wild fires there overtaking neighborhoods and forcing 200,000 people to leave their homes today. emergency crews had to shut down a major highway as flames jumped the lanes. this is the 101 ventura county 60 miles north and west of los angeles. teams closed a dozen miles of the 101 and have since reopened it. jonathan hunt was in the area earlier. >> we're in the hills of ventura county. firefighters are trying to prevent the flames that are burning here from jum...

>> it's a pretty rare opportunity to get right onto the front lines, sandra. it is in part terrifying and in part inspiring as you watch the heroic efforts of firefighters. here is what it looked like. we're in the hills in ventura county what firefighters are doing is trying to prevent the flames that are burning here from jumping these roads so they've been setting backfires. the intensity of the flame quite extraordinary at this point. the firefighters are backing away from it. it is an intense fire fight that is likely to go on for at least another 24 hours. and thanks to the skills and in...

Because these flames are burning in steep rugged terrain, this has become an all-out air assault. fixed wing air tankers are making drops of water. ground crews not on the front lines are setting backfires and more. >> they're cutting line, they're using bulldozers, they're putting a barrier between the fire and any structures or infrastructure that may be threatened. >> the smoke cloud and even some of the flames visible from space. this is now the biggest wildfire on record in california's sierra nevada. the cause is under investigation. officials say this fire has destroyed 31 homes and 80 ...

Beetles, it's basically stands of trees that are dead creating lots of fuel, that's the big concern now. so they are setting backfires in that area, and that is also the area, that's the way the wind is blowing, so hopefully they'll increase their containment later on. they have 1200 firefighters now working 24-hour shifts on this. the fire was started saturday by a lightning strike, it did kill a 62-year-old woman over the weekend. there were over 100 buildings that have been destroyed, the cost so far $3 million to fight this fire. weather conditions are somewhat better today, temperatures a...

Letting everyone know as soon as possible to get them out of the way of this fire. 8,000 firefighters are battling this fire. they're trying to do a consistent effort to knock down flames. we were with the crew of 100 firefighters as they were setting backfires and knocking down the brush in the mountain line, that's what makes fighting this fire so difficult. up there, you see it's a mountain, on tough of this, the fact that you're dealing with the terrain, sometimes the fire's above your head and it leaps down kbee low you. sometimes it crosses highways. you understand the difficulty that fi...