Los Angeles (AFP)

The fires continued their frantic race across the American West on Monday, a California electricity supplier - already responsible for the state's deadliest fire - being blamed in the start of some of these fires.

The fire season has only just begun and 80 large fires are already raging across the United States, where they have consumed more than 4,700 km² of vegetation.

Firefighters are particularly worried about the progression of the Tamarack Fire which suddenly gained momentum south of Lake Tahoe, straddling California and Nevada.

Authorities have ordered residents of several villages to evacuate the area and a portion of the Pacific Crest Trail, one of America's most popular hiking trails, had to be closed.

"This fire is a real scourge, and we are preparing for an intense fight" in the coming days, he announced.

Thunderstorms forecasts, with still very hot, dry and windy weather, should make their task even more difficult.

Very close to California, the fire also threatens the electricity network of this state and the authorities want at all costs to prevent millions of people from being plunged into darkness, as was the case in previous years when the network was too low. voltage.

- Defective power lines -

Especially since a large Californian electricity supplier, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) is itself accused of being at the origin of a big blaze in the state, the Dixie Fire, according to a preliminary investigation .

It was already this electricity supplier who had pleaded guilty to causing the deadliest fire in recent California history, due to faulty lines, very close to where the Dixie Fire is wreaking havoc.

Camp Fire had nearly wiped the small town of Paradise off the map and killed 86 people.

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San Francisco-based Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) has for years been accused of putting profits and its shareholders ahead of public safety, with outdated facilities and repeated failures to maintain and clear its lines at high tension.

The group "is cooperating in the California fire department investigation" around the Dixie Fire, the group told AFP.

© 2021 AFP