Dozens of wildfires continue to scorch the western United States as firefighters in California, Colorado, Washington, and Oregon are all battling back blazes. And the weather forecast shows no relief in sight, with more high temperatures and little to no rainfall on the radar.
In Northern California, firefighters are finally starting to make some progress in containing the Park Fire, which ignited last week in Butte County and quickly grew into the largest fire in the state this year.
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According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Park Fire has already scorched nearly 400,000 acres — or roughly 625 square miles — of land as of Thursday evening and was about 22% contained. It has grown to the fifth-largest fire in state history and destroyed at least 540 structures across Butte, Plumas, Shasta and Tehama counties.
Fire crews have gotten some help from relatively cooler temperatures and humidity over the past couple of days. But more heat is forecast in the region later this week, and triple-digit temperatures could linger into next week.
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Meanwhile, at least one person has died in Colorado as a wildfire burned in the town of Lyons, about 45 miles north of Denver. The person was found in a home that was one of several that had burned down in the area.
Three major fires in steep, rocky terrain have made aircraft critical for battling the flames.
Dry, brittle fuels and continued days above 90 degrees were expected to keep conditions ripe for fire activity in the state over the next week. Temperatures in Colorado were still in the 90s after 6p.m. Mountain Time on Thursday,
Five firefighters were injured in Jefferson County, Colorado on Wednesday, four of them with heat exhaustion, officials with the sheriff’s office said. But there have been no fatalities reported in the Quarry Fire there and no structures have been lost.
The blazes were among multiple burning on Colorado’s Front Range. According to Scripps News Denver, the Alexander Mountain Fire had grown beyond 8,000 acres — or roughly 13 square miles — as of Thursday afternoon, making it the largest in the state. The fire grew more than 400 acres in one day and is still just 1% contained.
