Severe heat, drought, lightning strikes and fires... the American West is preparing for the worst
The drought-stricken western US is bracing for more devastation from wildfires, as efforts to contain a wildfire fail in southern Oregon and dangerous dry lightning strikes in California.
Overnight, the Bottling Fire, near the Oregon border with California, spread to 240,000 acres, larger than New York City and the largest active fire in the United States, with only seven percent contained.
"The perimeter of the Bootleg Fire is more than 200 miles (approximately 322 km), which is a huge distance that is difficult to contain," Fire Brigade Chief Rob Allen said.
He added, "We are continuing to use all available resources, from bulldozers to firefighting planes, to reach places where it is safe to use them, especially in light of hot and dry weather conditions and winds that are expected to get stronger at the end of the week."
More evacuation orders were issued as firefighters were forced to withdraw due to the rapid spread of fire and severe fire conditions to the east of the fire, which broke out 10 days ago and has expanded at a rate of 1,000 acres per hour since then.
The fire also poses a threat to the energy supply in neighboring California, as it threatens to plunge residents into darkness, as happened in past years when heat waves strained the state's power grid.
California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that more reinforcements will be sent to help fight the Oregon fire even as California tries to extinguish its fires, emergency services in the governor's office said in a statement.
"The effects of climate change are contributing to wildfires that are increasing in severity and intensity throughout the western United States," the statement added.
Climate scientist Daniel Swain warned that the risk of wildfires caused by dry lightning strikes expected in California this weekend is "very high".
In August last year, the "complex fire", the largest in modern California history, devastated an area the size of Delaware, with a massive series of thousands of lightning strikes.
Because of "a long period of record-high temperatures", California's forests are drier than they are usually at the height of August or September, warned Swain of the University of California, Los Angeles.
Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news
:
fires,
drought,
lightning bolts,
scorching heat,
United State