Not less than 85 active wildfires have burned approximately 1.5m acres across 13 US states, most of these wildfires occur in the west, where the dried landscape has triggered the flames which moves very fast, causing extreme fire behavior that has been difficult to contain.
Dixie Fire
The statistics from the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) were reported as the fire season of 2021 is already targeting to break records set last year, when the fire consumed over 10.6m acres.
Presently, over 90% of the west is officially experiencing drought, as per the NIFC, with current heatwaves setting so many records in the northern Great Basin, Pacific north-west, and Northern Rockies.
The largest fire in California now is the Dixie fire following its explosion in size over the weekend. This fire went ahead to join with a separate fire. The Dixie fire has consumed almost 197,500 acres and is about 22% contained. Officials made a report of an initial estimate that the fire has destroyed about 16 homes and other structures, but it is assumed that the actual number is higher.
Also Read: Extremely Toxic: Wildfire Smoke Spreading Across US Contains Dangerous Levels of Metals
The Dangerous Camp Fire
A Cal Fire public information officer, Rick Carhart, said damage assessment crews are not yet able to access the affected regions.
Rick Carhart said: "Part of the problem was they physically weren't able to see anything because it was so smokey." For now, over 10,700 homes are under threat and authorities have issued evacuation orders in communities in three counties.
On the 13th of July, the great fire ignited just miles from where the dangerous Camp fire erupted in 2018. People believed the fire is caused by faulty Pacific Gas & Electric equipment, which also led to the Camp fire, which took the lives of 86 people and leveled out the town of Paradise.
Carhart said: "From the beginning, [the Dixie fire] has been burning away from where the Camp fire burned. But that doesn't necessarily make people in this area feel a lot better. Everyone in this area is still very well aware of the dangers of fire and they don't like seeing smoke in the air."
Unpredictable Weather Conditions
The fire is burning in areas crews and engines can't easily access, which is making containment efforts complicated as over 2,200 firefighters kept on fighting the fire. It has also generated massive cloud formations that can bring about unpredictable weather conditions, both thunderstorms and dry lightning strikes that can trigger new wildfires.
Carhart said over the weekend smoke reduced the threat from those clouds, but incident meteorologists have predicted that through the starting of this week the conditions may be more probable.
The largest wildfire in the west, the Bootleg fire, which has consumed over 409,600 acres in Oregon, has also brought about unpredictable conditions through the weekend, prompting the formation of a tornado along its eastern perimeter, as per officials.
Related Article: Northern California Wildfire Continues to Blaze as it Crosses Border of Nevada
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