The forest fire season in the western United States will probably last for months and the flames are already raging on unusually large areas. The work becomes a stress test for the rescue workers.
Klamath Falls – In the northwest of the United States, the fires known as “bootleg fires” continue to rage and by Sunday occupied an area of almost 1,200 square kilometers. Around 3,100 houses are still at risk from the flames, said the Oregon Forestry Department.
67 houses have already been destroyed, only around 22 percent of the fire are currently under control, it said. Among other things, heat, winds and extreme drought have contributed to the extent, according to scientists signs of global warming. The National Forest Service has instructed firefighters and employees to focus their resources on fire fighting in the coming weeks, reports “The Oregonian”. The forest fire season will last for months.
But fires are already burning over around 1,600 square kilometers in the states of Oregon and Washington. The “bootleg fire” alone, which is named after its place of origin, was around 300 square kilometers larger than the area of Berlin on Sunday. It is centered about 350 kilometers southeast of Portland and Vancouver.
The western United States and southwestern Canada had suffered from intense heat in the past few days. In Death Valley, more than 53 degrees Celsius had been measured last Sunday, in Las Vegas the thermometer rose to over 45 degrees Celsius. California Governor Gavin Newsom had already declared a state of emergency late last week because of the effects of the fire on the energy supply and because of the extreme heat. dpa
