Extract from ABC News
In short:
A pilot has been found dead in a small air tanker that crashed in eastern Oregon while fighting a fire near Seneca and the Malheur National Forest.
The plane disappeared during firefighting efforts and was later located by a rescue team in steep, forested terrain.
The incident is part of a wider crisis, with over 110 active fires burning across 7,250 square kilometres in the US, and significant damage also reported in Canada's Jasper National Park.
A pilot has been found dead in a small air tanker that crashed in eastern Oregon while fighting one of the many wildfires spreading across the western United States.
A Grant County Search and Rescue team found the single-engine air tanker on Friday morning, local time.
The plane had disappeared while combating the 567-square-kilometre Falls Fire near the town of Seneca and the Malheur National Forest.
Bureau of Land Management information officer Lisa Clark said the pilot died in the crash.
No-one else was aboard the bureau-contracted aircraft when it went down in the surrounding steep, forested terrain.
More than 110 active fires covering 7,250 square kilometres were burning in the US on Friday, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
California under threat
California's largest active fire exploded in size on Friday evening, growing rapidly amid bone-dry fuel and threatening thousands of homes as firefighters scrambled to meet the danger.
More than 130 structures have been destroyed by the Park Fire so far, and thousands more are threatened.
Evacuations were ordered in four counties in northern California after it grew to 1,243 square kilometres on Friday night.
The wildfire began on Wednesday when a man pushed a burning car into a gully in Chico, 265 kilometres north of San Francisco, and then calmly blended in with others fleeing the scene, authorities said.
Ronnie Dean Stout of Chico was arrested early on Thursday and held without bail pending charges, officials said.
More than 130 structures have been destroyed by the fire, and thousands more remain threatened.
It remains completely uncontained.
The most damage so far has been to the Canadian Rockies' Jasper National Park, where a fast-moving wildfire forced 25,000 people to flee and devastated the park's namesake town — a World Heritage site.
More than 22,800 square kilometres have burned in more than 3,700 fires so far in Canada, according to its National Wildland Fire Situation Report issued on Wednesday.
Oregon still has the biggest active blaze in the United States: the Durkee Fire, which combined with the Cow Fire to cover nearly 1,630 square kilometres.
It remains unpredictable, and was only 20 per cent contained on Friday, according to government website InciWeb.
The National Interagency Fire Center said more than 27,000 fires have burned more than 15,000 square kilometres in the US this year.
Lightning strikes spark wildfires in Idaho
Some fires were caused by the weather, with climate change increasing the frequency of lightning strikes as the region endures record heat and bone-dry conditions.
Lightning strikes sparked fast-moving wildfires and the evacuation of multiple communities in Idaho, including the town of Juliaetta, about 43 kilometres south-east of the University of Idaho's Moscow campus.
Those fires covered about 80 square kilometres on Friday afternoon.
"This a rough one, this sequence of fires," Idaho Department of Lands public information officer Robbie Johnson said.
"We're using everything we've got — when you have those additional fire starts in an area, you have to say, 'This needs aircraft over here, and over here,' and make those rough decisions about the attack.
"We've got really smart people working on that."
There's no estimate yet on the number of buildings burned in Idaho, Mr Johnson said on Friday morning.
Hundreds evacuated across California
By Thursday, about 1,000 people had been displaced by the lightning-sparked Gold Complex fire — but some evacuation orders were lifted on Friday when the 12-square-kilometre fire was about 11 per cent contained.
Carli Parker is one of hundreds who fled their homes this week as the Park Fire pushed close.
Ms Parker decided to leave her Forest Ranch residence with her family when the fire began burning across the street.
She has previously been forced out of two homes by fire, and she said she had little hope her residence would remain unscathed.
"I think I felt like I was in danger because the police had come to our house because we had signed up for early evacuation warnings, and they were running to their vehicle after telling us that we need to self-evacuate and they wouldn't come back."
Forest Ranch evacuee Sherry Alpers fled with her 12 small dogs and made the decision to stay in her car outside a Red Cross shelter in Chico after learning that animals would not be allowed inside.
She ruled out travelling to another shelter after learning the dogs would be kept in cages, since her dogs have always roamed free at her home.
Ms Alpers said she doesn't know whether the fire spared her home or not — but she said that as long as her dogs are safe, she doesn't care about the material things.
"I'm kind of worried, but not that much," she said.
"If it's gone, it's gone."
Brian Bowles was also staying in his car outside the shelter with his dog, Diamon.
He said he doesn't know if his mobile home is still standing.
Mr Bowles said he only has a $US100 ($153) gift card he received from United Way, which handed them out to evacuees.
"Now the question is, do I get a motel room and comfortable for one night? Or do I put gas in the car and sleep in here?" he said.
"Tough choice."
AP
No comments:
Post a Comment