While the death toll in the wildfires in northern California have risen to 48, new fires cropped up in the southern part of the state, keeping firefighters busy.

One of these was a brush fire that was sparked on a freeway in Simi Valley in southern California on Monday, and spread to almost 186 acres. Dubbed the “Peak Fire”, the blaze threatened structures in the area and triggered self-evacuation in neighbourhoods around it. Helicopters had to be brought in to help fire crews hose down the freeway as the fire drew closer to vehicles, ABC7 reported.

Videos of the aerial units extinguishing fire were posted by news organisations on social media.