Wildfires Rage Across U.S. West & British Columbia, Canada
The Bootleg Fire is the nation’s largest wildfire and is spreading in southern Oregon as officials declared weather warnings in the area.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom sent firefighters to assist efforts to contain the Bootleg Fire, which is the fourth-largest in the state since 1900, reported Wall Street Journal.
The Bootleg Fire has scorched 408,930 acres as of July 25 and is currently 46% contained, reported CNN News.
According to Oregon Gov. Kate Brown in a statement to CNN’s Jake Tapper, the state is getting federal support from the Biden administration to help fight the fire.
According to Wall Street Journal, dozens of large, active wildfires have burned through more than 1.3 million acres across the West this year.
Around 22,000 firefighters and other personnel are working to contain the fires.
Idaho and Oregon called on the National Guard in July to assist with the fire activity, added Wall Street Journal. Even more, firefighters from Maine, Pennsylvania and New Mexico are joining crews from Minnesota and Alaska to assist Idaho. Idaho is experiencing lightning storms on July 7 that sparked multiple fires.
According to CNN, there are currently 86 large wildfires throughout the US, with six new large fires reported July 24.
Idaho is the state with the biggest number of large fires, with 23 so far, and Oregon has the most acres burned with 541,336 from seven large fires, reported CNN.
NASA's Earth Observatory released two images on July 23, the first of which captured a band of smoke drifting eastward and fresh plumes of smoke above California and British Columbia, Canada. The second picture captured on July 21 showed the concentration of soot across North America.
The Canadian province of British Columbia (BC) also declared a state of emergency after a surge in wildfires, reported Al Jazeera News.
According to a provincial wildfire tracker, 299 blazes were actively burning across BC on July 19 afternoon, including 18 that were sparked during the previous two days, reported Al Jazeera News.
