Two Crew Members Dead as Uncontrollable Wildfire Continues to Blaze in California

Firefighters in California are grasping at straws in trying to contain the 'extreme growth' of Northern fire in Western states, forcing major highways to be shut down temporarily and killing two crew members of a small aircraft that crashed in Arizona last Saturday.

The Beech C-90 aircraft was doing a survey of a wildfire in rural Mohave County when it crashed around noon while observing the spread of a lightning-caused Cedar Basin fire, near the tiny community of Wikieup north-west of Phoenix. Unfortunately, the identified victims Jeff Piechura, 62, and Matthew Miller, 48, both died in the incident.

(Photo : Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
CAMARILLO, CA - MAY 3: A firefighting helicopter makes a water drop above the Type 1 Interagency Hotshot Crew (IHC), based out of the Lone Peak Conservation Center, in Draper, Utah as the Springs fire continues to grow on May 3, 2013 near Camarillo, California. The wildfire has spread to more than 18,000 acres on day two and is 20 percent contained.

Officials have expressed their grievances for the passing of the retired Tucson-area fire chief and the pilot with Falcon Executive Aviation contracted by the US Forest Service.

"Our hearts go out to the families of our brave wildland firefighters," an Arizona Bureau of Land Management spokesperson said.

Reducing Power Consumption

After a major wildfire in southern Oregon busted multiple power lines in the interstate, officials in California advised the residents to reduce power consumption to prevent 5,500MW of electricity from flowing into the state. Meanwhile, Oregon's Bootleg fire took three transmission lines off-line which strained the electricity supplies as temperatures rose in the area, according to report of the state's power grid runner, the California Independent System Operator.

The National Weather Service in Medford, Oregon added that the Bootleg fire can potentially grow to its extreme within the day.

In addition to that, stronger winds blow up blaze to extend to 224 square miles (580 sq km) through heavy timber in Oregon's Fremont-Winema national forest, near the town of Sprague River.

Also read: California Drought Putting Trees in Bay Area 'Under Stress'

Largest Wildfire of the Year

The Beckwourth Complex fire which was caused by two lightning blazes burned 45 miles north of Lake Tahoe and extended to north-east from the Sierra Nevada Forest region. At the time, the largest wildfire of the year in California was making history in south-east, Nevada. As of Friday and Saturday, the fire doubled in the region, according to recent update.

The fire's operations section chief, Jake Cagle asked people to stop taking pictures while fire had spread near the small town of Doyle in California in U.S. Route 395, late Saturday. The road, which was forced to close in the meantime, was reopened on Sunday, with warning signs for motorists to keep away from the key north-south route where flames were still active.

"You are going to impede our operations if you stop and look at what's going on," said Cagle.

"It seems like the worst is over in town, but back on the mountainside the fire's still going strong. Not sure what's going to happen if the wind changes direction," said a Buck-Inn Bar manager Bob Prary, who saw at least six houses destroyed around Doyle on Sunday.

As of Sunday, 9% of the fire was contained, increasing up to 131 square miles. According to data, temperatures are expected to reach triple-digit heat throughout the weekend, threatening homes across western states as a high-pressure zone continues to trigger California wildfire.

Also read: Global Warming: More Than 5 Million Per Year Suffer From Heat-Related Deaths