Extract from ABC News
A rapidly growing wildfire in California has jumped a highway, prompting more evacuation orders ahead of forecast dangerous wildfire weather.
Key points:
- There are 70 active large fires and complexes of multiple fires burning across western states
- The blazes have scorched about 82 square kilometres of land, according to the National Interagency Fire Centre
- Extremely dry conditions and heat waves have swept the region, making the wildfires harder to contain
The Tamarack Fire — which was sparked by lightning on July 4 — exploded overnight and covered over 82 square kilometres as of Saturday evening (local time), according to the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.
The blaze was threatening Markleeville, a small town close to the California-Nevada state border.
It has destroyed at least three structures, authorities said, and was burning toward the Alpine County Airport after jumping a highway.
A notice posted online by organisers of an extreme bike ride ordered all participants to clear the area.
The fire left thousands of bikers and spectators of the Death Ride stranded in the small town and desperate to get out.
Kelli Pennington and her family were camping near the town so her husband could participate in his ninth ride when they were told to leave.
They had been watching smoke develop over the course of the day, but were caught off guard by the fire's quick spread.
"It happened so fast," Ms Pennington said.
"We left our tents, hammock and some foods, but we got most of our things, shoved our two kids in the car and left."
Saturday's ride was supposed to mark the 40th Death Ride, which attracts thousands of cyclists to the region each year to ride through three mountain passes in the so-called California Alps. It was canceled last year during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Paul Burgess, who
drove from Los Angeles to participate in the ride, said most of the
cyclists he met were thankful to steer clear of the fire danger.
"They just said this is just how it goes," Mr Burgess said.
"It's part of climate change to a certain extent, it's part of just a lot of fuels that are not burnt, the humidity is low, the fuel moisture levels are low, and … around the state, many parts of it are much like a tinderbox."
Afternoon winds blowing at 32 to 48 kilometres per hour fanned the flames as they chewed through bone-dry timber and brush.
US's largest wildfire continues to burn
Meteorologists predicted critically dangerous fire weather until at least Monday in both California and southern Oregon, where the largest wildfire in the US continued to race through bone-dry forests.
The Bootleg Fire grew significantly overnight as dry and windy conditions took hold in the area, but containment of the inferno more than tripled as firefighters began to gain more control along its western flank.
The fire was still burning rapidly and dangerously along its southern and eastern flanks, however, and authorities expanded evacuations in a largely rural area of lakes and wildlife refuges.
The fire is now 1,137 square kilometres in size — or more than 100 square miles larger than the area of New York City.
"This fire is large and moving so fast, every day it progresses [six to eight kilometres]," Incident Commander Joe Hassel said.
"One of the many challenges that our firefighters face every day is working in new country that can present new hazards all the time."
Extremely dry conditions and heat waves tied to climate change have swept the region, making wildfires harder to fight.
Climate change has made the west of the country much warmer and drier in the past 30 years and will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive.
At least 70 active fires
In southern Oregon, fire crews have dealt with dangerous and extreme fire conditions, including massive "fire clouds" that rise up to 10 kilometres above the blaze. The Bootleg Fire has destroyed at least 67 homes and 117 outbuildings.
The conflagration has forced 2,000 people to evacuate and is threatening 5,000 buildings, including homes and smaller structures in a rural area just north of the California border.
The Tamarack Fire sent heavy smoke over Lake Tahoe and into Nevada.
The National Weather Service warned of possible thunderstorms stretching from the California coast to northern Montana on Sunday and that "new lightning ignitions" are likely because of extremely dry fuels.
[Image: Dixie Fire spray]Firefighters said in July they were facing conditions more typical of late summer or autumn.
The fires were just two of numerous fires burning across the drought-stricken US West, as new fires popped up or grew rapidly in Oregon and California.
There were 70 active large
fires and complexes of multiple fires that have burned nearly 4,297
square kilometres in the US, the National Interagency Fire Centre said.
The US Forest Service said at least 16 major fires were burning in the
Pacific Northwest alone.
AP
No comments:
Post a Comment