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Deseret News
Wildfires rage in California, Nevada, other Western states
By Asia Bown,
7 hours ago
The Line Fire jumps highway 330 as an emergency vehicle is driven past Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, near Running Springs, Calif. | Eric Thayer
The Western United States is baking under high temperatures, from Arizona north to Washington. Multiple cities have nearly met or broken temperature records in the last week.
Last Thursday, Portland registered a temperature of 101 degrees, only the third time the Oregon city hit 100 since records have been kept. Downtown Los Angeles hit 112 degrees on Friday, only one degree lower than an all-time record, per Axios , in one of the most prolonged heat waves with temperatures over 100 degrees the city has seen. Phoenix has now gone over 100 days with temperatures at or above 100 degrees.
The Pacific Northwest has been experiencing temperatures 15-20 degrees above average.
High heat indexes, dry conditions and winds across the West have spawned and contributed to the growth of multiple fires in various states in the region.
There are no new fires in Utah, while crews work to put out the Silver King Fire in Piute County, per latest reports.
California
According to the National Interagency Fire Center , California has reported eight large fires currently burning. Crews are in the process of putting out the fires, but high temperatures are weighing them down. Authorities are watching the Line Fire in Southern California, which is burning in the San Bernardino National Forest outside of Highland. The fire has burned almost 17,500 acres and is currently 0% contained.
On Sunday night, another fire began burning a few miles outside of Glendora, in Angeles National Forest. The Bridge Fire has burned 800 acres and is smaller than the Line Fire.
Evacuation orders are in place for parts of San Bernardino and Riverside counties and for visitors to Angeles National Forest.
Nevada
Nevada has reported two large wildfires, per the NIFC , the Broom Canyon Fire and Davis Fire. The Davis Fire has burned 6,500 acres and is 0% contained. It burns on the eastern edge of the Tahoe National Forest near Reno and Truckee. According to Axios , 14 structures have been affected by the fire and some homes and businesses have lost power.
As of Sunday night, 13,000 people are under evacuation orders in the area, according to the Weather Channel .
The Broom Canyon Fire has burned about 8,300 acres and is 15% contained. It burns in the Great Basin region of Nevada, near the state’s eastern border, west of Great Basin National Park on the Utah-Nevada border.
Oregon
Per the interagency fire center, there are 24 active wildfires burning in Oregon as of Monday morning. According to KGW8 , one fire was human caused and most were caused by lightning. Ten are still under investigation. All 24 fires are burning an area of roughly 500,000 acres.
Oregon firefighters have stayed busy throughout the summer but with so many active fires, crews from California, Idaho and Washington have come to help. The state has even bumped their numbers with help from firefighters that traveled from Australia and New Zealand.
On Friday, Gov. Tina Kotek invoked the Emergency Conflagration Act due to the Rail Ridge Fire and the Shoe Fly Fire near Bend, Oregon, KGW8 reported. Kotek has done so 16 times throughout the summer due to wildfires.
Idaho
There are 20 active wildfires being tracked by the NIFC in Idaho. The largest wildfire by far is the Wapiti Fire burning in Boise National Forest about 60 miles away from Boise. According to the Weather Channel, the fire has burned over 188 square miles. So far, it is only 12% contained.
Also near Boise, the Lava Fire has burned about 47 square miles and 30,000 acres and remains uncontained. Evacuation orders were issued Monday for some residents of Gem and Adams counties due to the Lava Fire.
Forest management needs to be paid attention to and properly done. Funny how Canadian loggers get paid by their government to clear woods, and the logs go to saw mills at little to no cost. Then, a tariff was applied to Canadian lumber, and the price of a 2×4 dropped immediately. Then, someone else took over, tariffs were lifted, prices skyrocketed, and who is all of a sudden having forest fires of their own? Canada. At the same time, saw mills all over the US Pacific Northwest are closing, and thousands of hard working Americans are being laid off. Coincidence? I don't think so.
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