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The Government is being urged to make the wearing of life jackets compulsory on small boats following a coroner’s report into the drowning of a teenager in 2016.Coroner Robin King found Matt Smith was not wearing a life jacket and…

Firefighters have gotten more control over a wildfire in Hawaii that forced thousands of people to evacuate over the weekend and destroyed at least two homes on the Big Island, but officials warned strong winds Monday could raise the danger again.

Authorities have lifted evacuation orders but warned they could be reinstated at any time and that people should be ready to go.

“It’s the biggest (fire) we’ve ever had on this island,” Big Island Mayor Mitch Roth said of the more than 160-square-kilometre blaze.

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"With the drought conditions that we’ve had, it is of concern. You see something like this where you’re putting thousands of homes in danger, it’s very concerning.”

Fires in Hawaii are unlike many of those burning in the US West. They tend to break out in large grasslands on the dry sides of the islands and are generally much smaller than mainland fires.

Even though Hawaii has a wet, tropical climate that isn’t typically at risk from large fires, blazes could become more frequent as climate change-related weather patterns intensify.

The islands have seen a downward trend in overall rainfall in recent years.

Drought conditions have reached the most severe level in some parts of Hawaii in recent years, according to the US Drought Monitor. Drought that is tied to climate change has made wildfires harder to fight.

READ MORE: Oregon wildfire the size of Los Angeles

Two homes were confirmed destroyed in the Hawaii fire. One homeowner said he tried to protect his property but lost the battle as the wind picked up.

“I had a dozer on my lawn, my land, and I tried to make a fire break,” Joshua Kihe of the community of Waimea told Hawaii News Now. He said the fire destroyed his home.

“I definitely need to think of a plan because it’s a life-changer,” he said.

Others scrambled to evacuate.

“I just seen the flames coming," Waimea resident Kanani Malakaua said.

“I mainly got my important papers, made sure my kids were in the car, got my animals — but this is a very, very scary time for us.”

Some nearby roads were closed, making certain neighbourhoods inaccessible, but there was no imminent threat to those houses.

Hawaii County Fire Chief Kazuo Todd said winds were expected to increase Monday.

“Our current wind forecast is showing wind patterns between 29 to 32 km/h, with gusts up to 64km/h," Mr Todd said Sunday night, “and so while throughout the evening our crews will be working to build fire breaks with dozers and back burns, this temporary lift on the mandatory evacuation may have to be reinforced later on due to prevailing weather patterns.”

According to the National Weather Service, strong winds and generally dry conditions will continue throughout the islands on Monday. The gusts will begin to ease Tuesday.

The fire chief said nearby communities could be inundated with smoke and that anyone with health or breathing problems should find somewhere else to stay.

Mr Roth, the Big Island mayor, said the way the wind come through the area makes it difficult to fight the flames and that officials and residents must stay vigilant.

“The winds kind of swirl, so they’ll be coming at one direction for a couple of minutes and then all of a sudden, they’re blowing in a different direction; that makes it really very difficult to fight a fire when you have swirling winds,” Mr Roth said.

Several wildfires also were burning in drought-stricken California and Oregon.

Containment on Monday reached 35 per cent for California's largest, the Dixie Fire, which covered about 1,005 square kilometres in mountains where 45 homes and other buildings have been destroyed.

Evacuation orders and warnings were lifted over the weekend for several areas in Northern California. But gusts were expected to push flames through dry fuels on remote hillsides.

Over the weekend, a lightning-sparked wildfire threatened remote homes along the Trinity River in California’s Shasta-Trinity National Forest. The 33.6 square kilometre McFarland Fire was five per cent contained Monday.

In southern Oregon, lightning struck parched forests hundreds of times in 24 hours, igniting some 50 new wildfires as the nation’s largest blaze burned less than 161 kilometres away, officials said Monday.

Firefighters and aircraft pounced on the new fires before they could spread out of control. No homes were immediately threatened.

The Bootleg Fire, the nation’s largest at 1,676 square kilometres, was 84 per cent contained Monday, though it isn’t expected to be fully under control until October 1.

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When Victorian couple Louise and Raymond Pryde first set eyes on their beautiful newborn twins, they believed they were lucky enough to have two healthy babies after a long battle with IVF.

But in May this year, their 19-month-old daughter Aria died of a rare genetic condition called Vanishing White Matter Disease, a form of Leukodystrophy.

Just months before her death, Aria's twin brother Axel was diagnosed with an even rarer genetic disease, IQSEC2, for which he requires 24-hour care.

READ MORE: Parents of first Aussie diagnosed with rare disease to crowdsource trial

It's unlikely he'll ever walk, talk or feed himself – and he suffers between 15 to 20 seizures a day.

"It's just gut-wrenching," Mrs Pryde said.

"We keep on saying to this day, what did we do so wrong?

"What have we done wrong in a past life for this to have happened, having twins with two completely rare genetic diseases?"

The first signs of Aria's illness appeared at nine months old when she was suddenly unable to sit or hold her head up anymore.

Shortly after her first birthday, she was given just weeks to live and discharged from hospital.

She died seven months later.

Unlike Aria's condition, Axel's isn't terminal – but it is untreatable.

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His parents are trying to raise awareness for genetic diseases in the hope it will lead to research that may someday help their son live a better life.

On Friday, Axel will be an ambassador for Jeans for Genes Day, which supports the work of scientists at the Children's Medical Research Institute.

"I'm not going to expect that he is going to have a normal life, I know that's not on the cards," Mrs Pryde said.

"But something other than the uncertainty we've been faced with.

"We are trying to spread the word, to see if there's anything we can do to help him later on in life in dealing with his condition, whether or not we can get him to walk or communicate with us in certain ways."

While Aria's and Axel's conditions are extremely rare, around 1 in 20 children in Australia is affected by a genetic disease or birth defect.

There are around 6000 genetic diseases, which makes it extremely difficult to test for many.

But experts say once a treatment is found for one disease it can often be applied for many more.

Children's Medical Research Institute Director Roger Reddel said the pandemic has brought home for many Australians why research is so important.

"For many people, the experience of living through a pandemic during the last 18 months has really opened their eyes to the power of research to change the world," Professor Reddel said.

"Now we are asking Australians to see the potential of our research to change the world for children living with genetic diseases."

All donations made on Thursday August 5 and Friday August 6 will be doubled by a donor.

Visit JeansforGenes.org.au

An Adelaide Hills naturopath has been formally prohibited from providing health advice on COVID-19 after publishing an opinion piece in a local newspaper that argued against receiving vaccination.

Wayne Liebelt, a naturopath in the Mount Barker area, authored an article in the Adelaide Hills Herald on June 24 which labelled COVID-19 vaccines as "anti-science, anti-human and evil".

Five days later, the Health and Community Services Complaints Commissioner (HCSCC) received a complaint from a member of the public about the article.

READ MORE: How to get a COVID-19 vaccination: State-by-state guide

Following an investigation, Commissioner Grant Davies issued an interim prohibition order against Mr Liebelt.

Coming into effect on July 29, the order prohibits Mr Liebelt from providing health services "in respect of health education and/or the provision of information related to COVID vaccinations".

It also prohibits the naturopath from providing advice in relation to the provision of the specified health services of COVID-19 vaccination.

The order lasts for 12 weeks.

Associate Professor Davies said even unregistered health care workers are held to community expectations.

READ MORE: New antiviral pill could soon be used to treat COVID-19 from home

https://twitter.com/katelambe_/status/1422039967333720068

"The Code of Conduct exists to ensure unregistered health care workers do not pose a risk to the health or safety of members of the South Australian public," Associate Professor Davies said.

"Therefore, I have decided to investigate this matter as I am concerned with what Mr Liebelt has expressed in this article."

Mr Liebelt has not been suspended from offering other naturopath services, only the specific terms surrounding COVID-19 vaccinations in the order.

9news.com.au has contacted Mr Liebelt for comment.

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