Firefighters continue to fight in the US.

29/7/2024,

Over 100 fires are being fought by firefighters in the US. California Although thousands of firemen are battling the flames, the major wildfire that has caused havoc throughout the western United States has been contained.

In northern California, the so-called Park Fire grew at a terrifying pace to become the state’s largest wildfire this year. Havelah, a historic mining village in Southern California, caught fire. Meanwhile, officials were evaluating the damage caused by many sizable wildfires in Oregon and Idaho.

There are currently over 100 fires raging in the United States. Some lights were turned on, but climate change has increased the frequency of lightning strikes as the western U.S. warms and bones dry. By Monday, the Park Fire had burned an area larger than the city of Los Angeles, darkening the sky with smoke and engaging thousands of firefighters.

The fire had spread over 562 square miles (1,455 sq km) near the city of Chico University. The fire began on Wednesday when authorities say a man drove a burning car into an alley in Chico and then fled. A man charged with arson is due to appear in court on Monday.

Officials did not expect the fire to move further into Chico, and crews plan to extinguish hot spots and eliminate hazards over the next three days, Cal Fire Operations Division Chief Jeremy Pierce said Sunday. Fires on Saturday and Sunday engulfed the town of Paradise in 2018, where 85 people lost their lives in a massive wildfire. Paradise and several other Butte County communities were under an evacuation warning on Sunday.

Still, the southern part of the fire, which is closest to Paradise, “looked nice,” Pierce said. Winds and a slight temperature rise were expected as the humidity dropped, officials said in an update on Monday morning. About 4,000 firefighters are battling the blaze, which is being helped by numerous helicopters and air tankers.

The reinforcements are expected to provide a much-needed respite to local firefighters, some of whom have been working nonstop since Wednesday, said Jay Tracy, a spokesman for the park fire headquarters. “This fire continues to surprise many people with its explosive growth,” he said. “It’s kind of incredible.” In Southern California, about 2,000 people were ordered to evacuate due to the fire in the Sequoia National Forest.

The wind-driven flames were fed by dried, dead vegetation and consumed more than 60 square miles (155 square km) in four days, said Andrew Freeborn of the Kern County Fire Department. There were no casualties in the Park and Borrell fires, but some people were ignoring evacuation orders, increasing the risk for everyone, Freeborn said.

“When people try to ignore orders and then call for rescue, it takes firefighters away from the job of extinguishing the fire,” he said. “This fire is moving at a speed and with such intensity that people should not think that they can wait till the last moment.

They need to get out of the way.” The historic mining town of Havelah and several other communities were “heavily affected” by the fire, but it was too early to count the burned homes, Freeborn said.

The present flames won’t go away, despite cooler-than-average temperatures predicted through the middle of this week, according to meteorologist Mark Chenard of the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Centre in College Park, Maryland.

Parts of Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming are under a “red flag” warning from the National Weather Service, which indicates that strong winds and dry fuel are raising the risk of fires.

Authorities were evaluating the damage from a series of flames known as the Gwenn Fire, which was estimated to be 43 square miles (111 square kilometres) as of Sunday. The fires were burning in eastern Oregon and eastern Idaho.

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