[ti:Strong Winds Continue to Fuel California Wildfires] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]Firefighters continue to fight wildfires in southern California, [00:05.56]including a new fire just north of San Diego. [00:10.40]In the past five days, the fires have destroyed at least 500 buildings [00:18.20]and forced 190,000 people to leave their homes, California officials said. [00:26.60]More than 5,700 people, some in helicopters, [00:31.60]are trying to slow the spread of six large wildfires and other smaller blazes. [00:39.00]They are spraying and dropping water, [00:41.64]as well as fire retardant, in the affected areas. [00:47.88]The wildfires have been burning since Monday. [00:52.04]They are causing destruction along the Pacific coast, [00:55.88]from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara County, [00:59.52]170 kilometers to the north. [01:02.95]The fires are powered by Santa Ana winds [01:07.80]-- hot, dry air that blows from east to west. [01:12.92]The biggest blaze is the Thomas Fire, [01:17.28]about 90 kilometers northwest of Los Angeles. [01:21.68]It is nearly 52,000 hectares in size and has destroyed about 430 buildings. [01:32.60]However, firefighters have made enough progress [01:36.16]against the Los Angeles area fires to cancel most evacuation orders. [01:43.68]A new fire, named the Lilac Fire, forced California Governor Jerry Brown [01:51.60]to declare a state of emergency for San Diego County, [01:56.36]more than 200 kilometers south of Los Angeles. [02:01.72]The Lilac Fire started on Thursday [02:04.72]and grew to 16 square kilometers in a few hours. [02:10.24]It moved through the heavily populated Rancho Monserate [02:14.99]Country Club community and the small city of Fallbrook, [02:19.88]home to many avocado farms and horse ranches. [02:25.16]The fire forced people to leave their homes as it destroyed homes [02:30.04]and burned an area near a training center for thoroughbred horses. [02:35.20]Workers freed more than 450 horses to avoid being trapped, [02:41.32]said Mac McBride of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club. [02:47.32]Some horses did not survive, and one trainer said at least 30 horses died. [02:54.73]The fire burned near Camp Pendleton, [02:58.64]a large base for the United States Marine Corps. [03:03.52]California state fire officials said the Santa Ana winds from the California desert [03:10.56]and the extremely dry conditions are expected to continue until Sunday. [03:17.00]The Los Angeles Unified School District, [03:21.36]the U.S.'s second largest with 640,000 students, [03:27.04]closed more than 275 schools for a second day on Friday. [03:33.35]The University of California in Santa Barbara also closed. [03:39.96]The fires crossed major roads and threatened small coastal communities [03:45.40]between Ventura and Santa Barbara. [03:49.64]Fires are common in Southern California before the winter rains begin. [03:55.28]This year is very bad because of unusually hot, dry and windy conditions. [04:04.00]Two weeks ago, wildfires in Northern California killed 44 people. [04:11.40]Those fires destroyed 8,900 homes and other buildings. [04:18.20]California's Department of Forestry and Fire Protection reported on Tuesday [04:24.68]that more than 400,000 hectares of land have burned this year. [04:30.80]That number does not include the fires burning now. [04:36.20]I'm Susan Shand. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM