Wildfires threaten homes and land in 10 western states

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LOS ANGELES (AP)-On Tuesday, wildfires in 10 hot western states destroyed houses and forced thousands of people to evacuate, the largest of which was in Oregon, threatening California’s electricity supply.

According to ABC reports, nearly 60 wildfires have destroyed extremely dry wood and bushes from Alaska to Wyoming. National Interagency Fire CenterArizona, Idaho, and Montana account for more than half of the active fires.

The fire broke out when the West encountered dangerously high temperatures for the second time in just a few weeks. Scientists say that severe droughts caused by climate change have also made fires more dangerous.

The National Weather Service said that the heat wave in many areas appears to have reached its peak and the overheating warning is expected to expire on Tuesday. However, they persisted in some deserts in California until Tuesday night, and it is expected that many areas will still reach the high temperatures of the 1980s and 1990s.

In Northern California, a pair of lightning-ignited fires known as the Bakeworth Complex was surrounded by less than 25% after days of fighting with flames that caused moisture loss from vegetation due to wind, hot weather, and low humidity. More than 3,000 residents in remote northern areas and neighboring Nevada have issued evacuation orders.

There are reports that houses were burned down, but the losses are still being counted. The fire has burned 140 square miles (362 square kilometers) of land, including the Pramas National Forest.

On Sunday, a fire in the Sierra Nevada Mountains south of Yosemite National Park exploded within 14 square miles (36 square kilometers), and only 10% was contained. The highway to the southern entrance of Yosemite remains open.

The largest fire in the United States occurred on the California border in southwestern Oregon. State fire officials say that piracy fires — which doubled and doubled over the weekend — threatened approximately 2,000 homes. It burned down at least seven houses and more than 40 other buildings.

Last weekend, the Klamath County Sheriff’s Office warned that it would quote and even arrest those who disregarded the order to “act now,” who were immediately threatened by the fire.

Tim McCully tells KPTV-TV On Friday, he and his family were ordered to flee their home, and the flames were minutes behind them.

“They told us to get out or you would be dead,” he said.

He described the fire as “like a fire,” with the flames jumping into the air tens of feet high and jumping around, grabbing the trees “and then just exploding, rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble.”

The fire broke out in the Fremont-Vinema National Forest near the town of Sprague River in Klamath County. It destroyed an area of ​​approximately 240 square miles (621 square kilometers), almost twice the area of ​​Portland.

The firefighters did not manage to surround it while trying to construct the containment line.

The fire severely disrupted the service of the three transmission lines that provide up to 5,500 megawatts of electricity to California, and the California grid operator in the state has repeatedly requested voluntary power savings at night.

Elsewhere, forest fires that began during a lightning storm in southeast Washington spread to 86 square miles (223 square kilometers). Controlled 20% on Monday.

Another fire west of Winthrop closed the scenic North Cascade Highway, which is the northernmost route through the Cascade Range. This road leads to North Cascade National Park and Ross Lake National Recreation Area.

In Idaho, Governor Brad Little mobilized the National Guard to help extinguish two lightning-induced fires that scorched nearly 24 square miles (62 square kilometers) in a remote, arid area ) Of dry wood.

The July heat wave occurred after the unusually hot weather in the western region in June, and the drought conditions in the entire region are getting worse.

Scientists say that man-made climate change and decades of increased fuel load fire fighting have exacerbated the fire situation in the area.

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