Wildfires blasting through West draw states to lend support
BLY, Ore. (AP) - Out-of-state crews headed to Montana Saturday to battle a blaze that injured five firefighters as the U.S. West struggled with a series of fires that have ravaged rural lands and destroyed homes.
Progress was being made on the nation's largest blaze, the Bootleg Fire in Oregon, but less than half of it was contained, fire officials said. The growth of the sprawling fire had slowed, but increased fire activity was expected Saturday, and thousands of homes remained threatened on its eastern side, authorities said.
"This fire is resistant to stopping at dozer lines," Jim Hanson, fire behavior analyst, said Saturday in a news release from the Oregon Department of Forestry. "With the critically dry weather and fuels we are experiencing, firefighters are having to constantly reevaluate their control lines and look for contingency options."
In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday declared a state of emergency for four northern counties because of wildfires that he said were causing "conditions of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property." The proclamation opens the way for more state support.
On Saturday, fire crews from California and Utah were headed to Montana, Gov. Greg Gianforte announced. Five firefighters were injured Thursday when swirling winds blew flames back on them as they worked on the Devil´s Creek fire burning in rough, steep terrain near the rural town of Jordan.
They remained hospitalized Friday. Bureau of Land Management spokesperson Mark Jacobsen declined to release the extent of their injuries, and attempts to learn their conditions Saturday were unsuccessful. Three of the firefighters are U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service crew members from North Dakota, and the other two are U.S. Forest Service firefighters from New Mexico.
Firefighters light a backfire to stop the Dixie Fire from spreading near Prattville in Plumas County, Calif., on Friday, July 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
In California, the Tamarack Fire south of Lake Tahoe continued to burn through timber and chaparral and threatened communities on both sides of the California-Nevada state line. The fire, sparked by lightning July 4 in Alpine County, has destroyed at least 10 buildings.
In Butte County, California, the Dixie Fire continued to burn in rugged and remote terrain, hampering firefighters´ efforts to contain the blaze as it grows eastward, becoming the state´s largest wildfire so far this year.
Heavy smoke from both huge fires lowered visibility and may at times ground aircraft providing support for fire crews. The air quality south of Lake Tahoe and across the state line into Nevada deteriorated to very unhealthy levels.
In north-central Washington, firefighters battled two blazes in Okanogan County that threatened hundreds of homes and again caused hazardous air quality conditions Saturday. And in northern Idaho, east of Spokane, Washington, a small fire near the Silverwood Theme Park prompted evacuations Friday evening at the park and in the surrounding area. The theme park was back open on Saturday with the fire half contained.
Although hot weather with afternoon winds posed a continued threat of spreading blazes, weekend forecasts also called for a chance of scattered thunderstorms in California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and other states. However, forecasters said some could be dry thunderstorms that produce little rain but a lot of lightning, which can spark new blazes.
More than 85 large wildfires were burning around the country, most of them in Western states, and they had burned over 1.4 million acres (2,135 square miles, or more than 553,000 hectares).
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This story has been corrected to show additional mandatory evacuations were not issued on Friday at the Bootleg fire.
Firefighter Jason Prado monitors flames as his crew burns vegetation to stop the Dixie Fire from spreading near Prattville in Plumas County, Calif., on Friday, July 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
William Deal wets down his 1977 Trans Am as the Dixie Fire approaches Crescent Mills in Plumas County, Calif., Saturday, July 24, 2021. Deal, who lives in a community under evacuation orders, planned to stay to defend his home from the fire. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
William Deal wets down his 1977 Trans Am as the Dixie Fire approaches Crescent Mills in Plumas County, Calif., Saturday, July 24, 2021. Deal, who lives in a community under evacuation orders, planned to stay to defend his home from the fire. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Marcus Kauffman, public information officer with the Bootleg Fire, walks through burn damage near the Northwest containment line on Friday, July 23, 2021, near Paisley, Ore. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)
In this photo provided by the Bureau of Land Management, a helicopter works above the Devil's Creek Fire in central Montana on Thursday, July 22, 2021. Five firefighters were injured when a thunderstorm and swirling winds in central Montana blew a lightning-caused wildfire back on them, federal officials said Friday, July 23, 2021. (Mark Jacobsen/Bureau of Land Management via AP)
Firefighter Jesse Forbes rubs his head while battling the Dixie Fire near Prattville in Plumas County, Calif., on Friday, July 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Firefighters from New Mexico walk toward the Northwest edge of the Bootleg Fire while working to build a containment line on Friday, July 23, 2021, near Paisley, Ore. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)
Firefighters monitor a backfire they lit to stop the Dixie Fire from spreading near Prattville in Plumas County, Calif., on Friday, July 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Ryan Berlin, a public information officer with the Bootleg Fire, examines a fire resistant cover used to protect a cabin near the Northwest edge of the fire on Friday, July 23, 2021, near Paisley, Ore. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)
Cal Fire firefighters battle the Dixie Fire near Prattville in Plumas County, Calif., on Friday, July 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Cal Fire firefighters battle the Dixie Fire near Prattville in Plumas County, Calif., on Friday, July 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Cal Fire firefighters battle the Dixie Fire near Prattville in Plumas County, Calif., on Friday, July 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Cal Fire Capt. Dom Kaska, right, monitors flames as his crew burns vegetation to stop the Dixie Fire from spreading near Prattville in Plumas County, Calif., on Friday, July 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Firefighter Jesse Forbes monitors flames as his crew burns vegetation to stop the Dixie Fire from spreading near Prattville in Plumas County, Calif., on Friday, July 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Jeremiah Johnson fills up with diesel while constructing fire breaks as the Dixie Fire approaches the Greenville community in Plumas County, Calif., on Friday, July 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Firefighters gas up while battling the Dixie Fire in the Greenville community of Plumas County, Calif., on Friday, July 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
A small brush fires spreads ahead of a containment line near the Northwest edge of the Bootleg Fire on Friday, July 23, 2021, near Paisley, Ore. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)
Jerry Whipple wets down his roof as the Dixie Fire approaches the Greenville community in Plumas County, Calif., on Friday, July 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Firefighters from New Mexico walk past a herd of cattle while heading toward the Northwest edge of the Bootleg Fire on Friday, July 23, 2021, near Paisley, Ore. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)
Area damaged by the Bootleg Fire smolders near the Northwest edge of the blaze on Friday, July 23, 2021, near Paisley, Ore. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)
