13 States, 85 Fires, 1.5 Million Acres Burned Or Burning, And It's Not Even August Yet
At least 85 active wildfires have torched roughly 1.5m acres across 13 US states, mostly in the west, where the parched landscape has fueled the fast-moving flames and caused extreme fire behavior that has proved difficult to contain.
The figures from the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) were reported as the 2021 fire season is already on track to break records set last year, when more than 10.6m acres burned. More than 90% of the west is now officially in drought, according to the NIFC, with recent heatwaves setting numerous records in the Pacific north-west, northern Great Basin, and Northern Rockies.
The Dixie fire has become the largest in California after it exploded in size over the weekend and joined with a separate fire. The Dixie fire has scorched close to 197,500 acres and is 22% contained. Officials reported an initial estimate that 16 homes and other structures have been destroyed, but the actual number is assumed to be higher.
Rick Carhart, a Cal Fire public information officer, said damage assessment crews have not yet been able to access the burned areas. “Part of the problem was they physically weren’t able to see anything because it was so smokey,” he said. Meanwhile, more than 10,700 homes remain under threat and evacuation orders have been issued in communities in three counties.
EDIT
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/26/wildfires-dixie-fire-california-us-west
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