Brazil's Sao Paulo state said that wildfire outbreaks were affecting or closing in on 30 of its cities on Friday evening, adding two people had died in an industrial plant trying to hold back the flames.

Reuters quoted the government as warning residents that forest fires could spread rapidly from gusts of wind, potentially razing large areas of natural vegetation.

For now, the government has not reported flames directly reaching the city of Sao Paulo, Latin America's largest by population with more than 11 million residents.

The government said two employees at an industrial plant in the city of Urupes had died on Friday while fighting a fire, without providing more details.