Unseasonably high temperatures and wind gusts topping 60 kilometres per hour pushed the fires to spread quickly overnight Thursday, local reports said.

"Some hotspots have been brought under control, while extinguishing other embers continues," the civil protection said in a statement at 14:39 local time (1339 GMT).

The health ministry said on Friday there had been no deaths in the fires.

Some residents in villages near Tipaza fled their homes to seek shelter in schools and youth centres, reports said.

The Algerian civil defence said it deployed some 300 firefighters and two water-bombing aircraft to contain the blaze.

Scientists have long warned that climate change caused by mankind's burning of fossil fuels will make periods of drought more intense and longer-lasting, creating the ideal conditions for wildfires.