Desk Report
Publish: 13 Jul 2021, 04:00 pm
The fires erupted as the West was in the grip of the second bout of dangerously high temperatures in just a few weeks. (Photo: Collected)
Wildfires that torched
homes and forced thousands to evacuate burned across 10 parched Western states
on Tuesday, and the largest, in Oregon, threatened California’s power supply.
Nearly 60 wildfires
tore through bone-dry timber and brush from Alaska to Wyoming, according to the
National Interagency Fire Center. Arizona, Idaho, and Montana accounted for more
than half of the large active fires, reports AP.
The
fires erupted as the West was in the grip of the second bout of dangerously
high temperatures in just a few weeks. A climate change-fueled megadrought also
is contributing to conditions that make fires even more dangerous, scientists
say.
The National Weather
Service says the heatwave appeared to have peaked in many areas, and excessive heat warnings were largely expected to expire by Tuesday. However,
they continued into Tuesday night in some California deserts, and many areas
were still expected to see high in the 80s and 90s.
In Northern
California, a combined pair of lightning-ignited blazes dubbed the Beckwourth complex was less than 25% surrounded after days of battling flames fueled by
winds, hot weather, and low humidity that sapped the moisture from vegetation.
Evacuation orders were in place for more than 3,000 residents of remote
northern areas and neighboring Nevada.
There were reports of
burned homes, but the damage was still being tallied. The blaze had consumed 140
square miles (362 square kilometers) of land, including in Plumas National
Forest.
A fire that began
Sunday in the Sierra Nevada south of Yosemite National Park exploded over 14
square miles (36 square kilometers) and was just 10% contained. A highway that
leads to Yosemite’s southern entrance remained open.
The largest fire in
the United States lay across the California border in southwestern Oregon. The
Bootleg Fire — which doubled and doubled again over the weekend — threatened
some 2,000 homes, state fire officials said. It had burned at least seven homes
and more than 40 other buildings.
Over
the weekend, the Klamath County Sheriff’s Office warned that it would cite or
even arrest people who ignored orders to “go now” in certain areas immediately
threatened by the blaze.
Tim McCarley told
KPTV-TV that he and his family were ordered to flee their home on Friday with
flames just minutes behind them.
“They told us to get
the hell out ’cause if not, you’re dead,” he said.
He described the blaze
as “like a firenado,” with flames leaping dozens of feet into the air and
jumping around, catching trees “and then just explosions, boom, boom, boom,
boom.”
The fire was burning
in the Fremont-Winema National Forest, near the Klamath County town of Sprague
River. It had ravaged an area of about 240 square miles (621 square
kilometers), or nearly twice the size of Portland.
Firefighters hadn’t
managed to surround any of it as they struggled to build containment lines.
The fire drastically
disrupted service on three transmission lines providing up to 5,500 megawatts
of electricity to California, and that state’s California power grid operator
has repeatedly asked for voluntary power conservation during evening hours.
Elsewhere, a forest
fire started during lightning storms in southeast Washington grew to 86 square
miles (223 square kilometers). It was 20% contained Monday.
Another fire west of
Winthrop closed the scenic North Cascades Highway, the most northern route
through the Cascade Range. The road provides access to North Cascades National
Park and the Ross Lake National Recreation Area.
In Idaho, Gov. Brad
Little mobilized the National Guard to help fight twin lightning-sparked fires
that have together charred nearly 24 square miles (62 square kilometers) of dry
timber in the remote, drought-stricken region.
The July heatwave
follows an unusual June siege of broiling temperatures in the West, and comes
amid worsening drought conditions throughout the region.
Scientists say
human-caused climate change and decades of fire suppression that increases fuel
loads have aggravated fire conditions across the region.
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