Wildfires continue to rage across the West.
As of Sept. 21, wildfires were actively being fought by 19,000 firefighters in California, according to CAL Fire, the California Daily Fire update. The update reports that “there have been well over 7,900 wildfires that have burned over 3.6 million acres in California. Since August 15, when California’s fire activity elevated, there have been 26 fatalities and over 6,400 structures destroyed.”
The National Interagency Fire Center reported on Sept. 21 that 78 wildfires are in occurrence nationally. The states affected include (from most to least amount of fires): California, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Washington, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, South Dakota and Texas.
The so-called “Bobcat Fire” has burned for over two weeks now across Oregon and California, destroying almost everything in its path.
“The Bobcat Fire has burned more than 160 square miles in and around the Angeles National Forest, destroying an unknown number of homes and an iconic nature center. Thousands of residents have fled the flames,” according to USA Today.
The fire is beginning to spread into Antelope Valley, where low lying shrubbery grows abundantly.
“The more variables you have, the more complex it becomes,” U.S. Forest Service spokesman Larry Smith said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. “It’s much less terrain-influenced there. Now it’s a fuel-driven fire.”
“Grasses, sage and brush are contributing to the fire’s movement through the valley, Smith said, but he noted that the flatter terrain is allowing for more mechanized equipment, such as bulldozers, to create containment lines,” the Los Angeles Times reported.
On Sunday, Oregon announced it was down 10 fires from the original 17. The rainy and cool weather has been able to slow down the fires.
“Doug Grafe, the chief of fire protection at the Oregon Department of Forestry, said in a Saturday video briefing that weekend rain, cooler temperatures during the day and decent humidity at night make for “favorable fire-fighting conditions,” and a potential storm front this coming week could provide additional relief,” USA Today reported.
As fires surge on, at least 33 deaths have been reported, according to the Wall Street Journal. The New York Times reported that the West has a long way to go before the fires subside.
“But the effects of the greenhouse gases humans produce underlie everything that occurs in the atmosphere, and the tendency of climate change to make dry places more dry over time is a warning to the West of a fiery future,” according to The Times.
