Dozens of wildfires burn across torrid Western U.S. West with extreme temperatures expected to last until Tuesday evening before returning this weekend
- Wildfires are burning across more than one million acres of the western United States and Canada
- It comes as scorching temperatures held their grip on areas reeling from a brutal weekend heat wave
- 850,000 acres were ablaze in the United States in western states such as Oregon, California and Arizona
- Extreme temperatures in recent days reached as far inland as the edge of the Rocky Mountains
- US National Weather Service has warned dangerous temperatures will continue for the early part of the week
- Temperatures up to 116 degrees Fahrenheit (47 Celsius) were recorded in southern California Monday, and a heat advisory issued for communities outside Los Angeles
- NWS said overall temperatures were beginning to dip, with breezes arriving in northern California and storms in Arizona and New Mexico on Monday, but excessive heat warnings remain in effect until Tuesday
Wildfires that torched homes and forced thousands to evacuate burned across 10 parched Western states on Tuesday, and the largest, in Oregon, threatened California's power supply.
Nearly 60 wildfires tore through bone-dry timber and brush from Alaska to Wyoming, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Arizona, Idaho and Montana accounted for more than half of the large active fires.
The fires erupted as the West was in the grip of the second bout of dangerously high temperatures in just a few weeks. A climate change-fueled megadrought also is contributing to conditions that make fires even more dangerous, scientists say.
The National Weather Service says the heat wave appeared to have peaked in many areas, and excessive-heat warnings were largely expected to expire by Tuesday. However, they continued into Tuesday night in some California deserts, and many areas were still expected to see high in the 80s and 90s.
Wildland firefighters watch and take video with their cellphones as a plane drops fire retardant on Harlow Ridge above the Lick Creek Fire, southwest of Asotin, Washington on Monday
Fire consumes a home as the Sugar Fire, part of the Beckwourth Complex Fire, tears through Doyle, California this weekend
The western United States and Canada are in the grips of another dangerous heat wave
Plumes of smoke from the Bootleg Fire in Oregon rise over a playground on Monday near Bly
Shane Durant watches the Bootleg Fire smoke plume in Oregon while walking his dog on Monday
Flames consume a vehicle as the Sugar Fire, part of the Beckwourth Complex Fire, tears through Doyle. Pushed by heavy winds amid a heat wave, the fire came out of the hills and destroyed multiple residences in central Doyle
Flames consume a home as the Sugar Fire, part of the Beckwourth Complex Fire. Pushed by heavy winds amid a heat wave, the fire came out of the hills and destroyed multiple residences in central Doyle
There appears to be no relief in sight as temperatures are likely to hover above 100 degrees for a large chunk of the Western United States throughout the week
Heat warnings and advisories have been issued by the National Weather Service affecting residents in California, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, and Nevada
The 10-day outlook calls for temperatures in most of the western United States to remain above average
The latest data indicates that there are some three dozen fires raging across the Western half of the continental United States
A thermometer at Death Valley National Park in southeastern California shows temperatures soaring to 133 degrees Fahrenheit on Sunday
In Northern California, a combined pair of lightning-ignited blazes dubbed the Beckwourth Complex was less than 25% surrounded after days of battling flames fueled by winds, hot weather and low humidity that sapped the moisture from vegetation. Evacuation orders were in place for more than 3,000 residents of remote northern areas and neighboring Nevada.
There were reports of burned homes, but damage was still being tallied. The blaze had consumed 140 square miles (362 square kilometers) of land, including in Plumas National Forest.
A fire that began Sunday in the Sierra Nevada south of Yosemite National Park exploded over 14 square miles (36 square kilometers) and was just 10% contained. A highway that leads to Yosemite´s southern entrance remained open.
The largest fire in the United States lay across the California border in southwestern Oregon. The Bootleg Fire - which doubled and doubled again over the weekend - threatened some 2,000 homes, state fire officials said. It had burned at least seven homes and more than 40 other buildings.
A scoop plane drops water onto a burning ridge where a fire line had been created by crews of wildland firefighters, Monday, at the Lick Creek Fire, south of Asotin, Washington
A wildland fire crew looks on after setting a fire line on Harlow Ridge above the Lick Creek Fire
After lighting a fire line to burn up fuel for the Lick Creek Fire, a crew of wildland firefighters begin to put out the flames
Embers blow across a field as the Sugar Fire, part of the Beckwourth Complex Fire in California
Firefighters from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection's Placerville station battle the Sugar Fire
A man runs in a strong wind as smoke and flames rise from a wildfire in Doyle, California in this screen grab obtained from a social media video
Flames and smoke rise as a wildfire burns in Doyle, California
Flames and smoke rise as a wildfire burns in Doyle, California
Debris fly over a fire truck as smoke billows from a wildfire in Doyle, California
The Bootleg Fire smoke plume rises over power lines near Klamath Falls, Oregon
A firefighting tanker makes a retardant drop over the Grandview Fire near Sisters, Oregon., Sunday, July 11, 2021. The wildfire doubled in size to 6.2 square miles (16 square kilometers) Monday, forcing evacuations in the area, while the state's biggest fire continued to burn out of control, with containment not expected until November. (Oregon Department of Forestry via AP)
A Klamath County Sheriff's vehicle drives toward smoke from the Bootleg Fire on Monday near Klamath Falls, Oregon
A firefighting helicopter lands at a fire staging area near the Bootleg Fire in Chiloquin, Oregon
Flames consume a vehicle as the Sugar Fire, part of the Beckwourth Complex Fire, tears through Doyle, California on Saturday
Over the weekend, the Klamath County Sheriff´s Office warned that it would cite or even arrest people who ignored orders to 'go now' in certain areas immediately threatened by the blaze.
Tim McCarley told KPTV-TV that he and his family were ordered to flee their home on Friday with flames just minutes behind them.
'They told us to get the hell out ´cause if not, you´re dead,' he said.
He described the blaze as 'like a firenado,' with flames leaping dozens of feet into the air and jumping around, catching trees 'and then just explosions, boom, boom, boom, boom.'
The fire was burning in the Fremont-Winema National Forest, near the Klamath County town of Sprague River. It had ravaged an area of about 240 square miles (621 square kilometers), or nearly twice the size of Portland.
Firefighters hadn't managed to surround any of it as they struggled to build containment lines.
The fire drastically disrupted service on three transmission lines providing up to 5,500 megawatts of electricity to California, and that state's California's power grid operator has repeatedly asked for voluntary power conservation during evening hours.
A sign thanking firefighters and first responders hangs near the Bootleg Fire in Chiloquin, Oregon
An active fire along a ridge at the Grandview Fire near Sisters, Oregon. The wildfire doubled in size to 6.2 square miles (16 square kilometers) Monday, forcing evacuations in the area, while the state's biggest fire continued to burn out of control, with containment not expected until November
After lighting a fire line to burn up fuel for the Lick Creek Fire, a crew of wildland firefighters begin to put out the flames, Monday, south of Asotin, Washington
Firefighters pass a burning home as the Sugar Fire, part of the Beckwourth Complex Fire, as it tears through Doyle
Fire burns along a power pole as the Sugar Fire, part of the Beckwourth Complex Fire
Scientists say a similar heatwave at the end of June 2021 would have been 'virtually impossible' without climate change
June 2021 was the hottest June on record in North America, according to data released by the European Union's climate monitoring service
Elsewhere, a forest fire started during lightning storms in southeast Washington grew to 86 square miles (223 square kilometers). It was 20% contained Monday.
Another fire west of Winthrop closed the scenic North Cascades Highway, the most northern route through the Cascade Range. The road provides access to North Cascades National Park and the Ross Lake National Recreation Area.
In Idaho, Gov. Brad Little mobilized the National Guard to help fight twin lightning-sparked fires that have together charred nearly 24 square miles (62 square kilometers) of dry timber in the remote, drought-stricken region.
The July heat wave follows an unusual June siege of broiling temperatures in the West, and comes amid worsening drought conditions throughout the region.
Scientists say human-caused climate change and decades of fire suppression that increases fuel loads have aggravated fire conditions across the region.
Wildland firefighters spray water onto a tree that caught fire as they were building a fire line for the Lick Creek Fire south of Asotin, Washington. The fire, which started last Wednesday, has now burned over 50,000 acres of land between Asotin County and Garfield County in southeast Washington state
A scoop plane drops water onto a burning ridge where a fire line had been created by crews of wildland firefighters, Monday
A wildland fire crew looks on after setting a fire line on Harlow Ridge above the Lick Creek Fire, on Monday
David Garfield clears a fire break around his home as the Sugar Fire, part of the Beckwourth Complex Fire, burns
David Garfield clears a fire break around his home
St. Aloysius Church on the campus of Gonzaga University in Washington State is blanketed in smoke from area wildfires
Smoke from area wildfires blankets downtown Spokane, Washington this past weekend
