A wildfire roaring near Lake Tahoe that forced hundreds to flee blew up to cover 30 square miles Sunday, one of more than 80 major fires raging across the hot, drought-stricken West, fire officials said.
Authorities at Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest issued evacuation orders for more than a half-dozen communities and two campgrounds near tiny Markleeville, California, a town of less than 200 people about 35 miles southeast of Lake Tahoe. The Tamarack Fire, which ignited two weeks ago, forced closure of a highway and some smaller roads.
Wildfires burning Sunday in 13 states torched more than 1,800 square miles from Alaska to California and Minnesota to New Mexico. Almost 20,000 firefighters worked to keep the blazes at bay.
Among the other major fires, the Bootleg Fire in southern Oregon consumed more than 476 square miles, an area about the size of Los Angeles, and destroyed at least 67 homes. The fire, which was 22% contained, forced 2,000 people to evacuate and threatens 5,000 buildings.
The Beckwourth Complex Fire in California near the Nevada border burned more than 164 square miles and was 73% contained.
Northern California's Dixie Fire roared to new life Sunday, prompting new evacuation orders in rural communities near the Feather River Canyon. The wildfire, near the 2018 site of the deadliest U.S. blaze in recent memory, was 15% contained and covered 39 square miles.
Nevada, more than 500 firefighters battling the Tamarack Fire faced a Red Flag Warning, meaning warm temperatures, very low humidity and strong winds were conspiring to increase risk
Meteorologists predicted critically dangerous fire weather with lightning possible through at least Monday in both California and southern Oregon.
“With the very dry fuels, any thunderstorm has the potential to ignite new fire starts,” the National Weather Service in Sacramento, California, said on Twitter.
Huge Oregon wildfire grows as lightning threatens to spark new blazes in West
The largest wildfire in the U.S. torched more dry forest landscape in Oregon on Sunday, one of dozens of major blazes burning across the West as critically dangerous fire weather loomed in the coming days.
The destructive Bootleg Fire just north of the California border grew to more than 476 square miles, an area about the size of Los Angeles.
Erratic winds fed the blaze, creating dangerous conditions for firefighters, said John Flannigan, an operations section chief on the 2,000-person force battling the flames.
“Weather is really against us,” he said. “It’s going to be dry and air is going to be unstable.”
Authorities expanded evacuations that now affect some 2,000 residents of a largely rural area of lakes and wildlife refuges. The blaze, which was 22% contained, has burned at least 67 homes and 100 outbuildings while threatening thousands more.
At the other end of the state, a fire in the mountains of northeast Oregon grew to more than 17 square miles by Sunday.
The Elbow Creek Fire that started Thursday has prompted evacuations in several small, remote communities around the Grande Ronde River about 30 miles southeast of Walla Walla, Washington. It was 10% contained.
Natural features of the area act like a funnel for wind, feeding the flames and making them unpredictable, officials said.
In California, a growing wildfire south of Lake Tahoe jumped a highway, prompting more evacuation orders, the closure of the Pacific Crest Trail and the cancellation of an extreme bike ride through the Sierra Nevada.
The Tamarack Fire, which was sparked by lightning on July 4, had charred nearly 29 square miles of dry brush and timber as of Sunday morning. The blaze was threatening Markleeville, a small town close to the California-Nevada state line. It has destroyed at least two structures, authorities said.
No comments:
Post a Comment