At least 270,000 people had to leave their homes, driven away by the wildfires in Southern California. More than 700 homes are burnt, 245,957 acres ablaze, and it may be only the start of the destruction for the state.

Firefighters have battled into the night to tame wildfires in California that sparked mass evacuations, drove Hollywood stars from their million-dollar homes and killed one person, authorities said.

The Pepperdine University Community in Malibu is responding this morning to a nearby fire in Malibu Canyon. Steps are being taken to shelter and place students in the Firestone Fieldhouse and faculty and staff residents in Tyler Campus Center. No campus evacuations are planned at this time.

Wildfires in Malibu, California have forced the evacuation of several celebrity homes, as well as the campus of Pepperdine University. The fire has also consumed historic Hodge Castle also known as Malibu Castle.

A new study involving the University of Colorado at Boulder that modeled the spread of forest fires in Colorado and other western states indicates the size and intensity of fires is directly linked with the density and flammability of houses built in the so-called “wildland-urban interface.”

Fire officials in Greece say progress is being made in fighting deadly wildfires sweeping the country but many fires are not yet contained.

Greece has experienced more wildfire activity this August than other European countries have over the last decade, according to data from ESA satellites. The country is currently battling an outbreak of blazes, which began last Thursday, that have spread across the country killing more than 60 people.

Intense fires that have blazed for five days in southern Greece, killing at least 64 people, continue to consume forests, orchards and farmland across the Peloponnese peninsula.

In a year when many Americans have experienced first-hand the dangers of raging wildfires, University of Central Florida researchers are preparing to study whether interactive, virtual reality simulations of wildfires can make residents more willing to invest in preventing them.

At the request of the Georgia State Department of Health, scientists with the Southern Research Station Smoke Management Team located at the Center for Forest Disturbance Science in Athens, GA, are producing daily smoke forecasts which help communities determine potential health risks caused by current wildfires across south Georgia and north Florida.