Sprawling Oregon wildfire, largest of dozens in U.S., continues to grow
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[July 17, 2021]
By Deborah Bloom and Steve Gorman
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. (Reuters) -A sprawling
wildfire raging mostly unchecked for over a week in southern Oregon
forced firefighters into retreat for a fourth straight day as it
expanded to become the state's fifth largest blaze in more than a
century, forestry officials said on Friday.
The Bootleg fire, the biggest among dozens of wildfires flaring across
the tinder-dry landscape of the Western United States, has scorched more
than 241,000 acres - an area exceeding the land mass of New York City.
Ironically, heavy smoke shrouding much of the region from the fires may
act to slightly blunt the effects of yet another heat wave expected this
weekend in the Rockies, extending to parts of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming,
Utah and Colorado.
The Bootleg blaze has been burning through drought-parched timber and
brush in and around the Fremont-Winema National Forest since erupting on
July 6 near Klamath Falls, about 250 miles (400 km) south of Portland.
The cause is under investigation.
Flames have destroyed at least 21 homes and 54 other structures,
authorities said. On Friday, the Oregon Department of Forestry listed
5,000-plus homes as threatened, about 3,000 more than a day earlier.
That figure represents a greater number of communities potentially in
harm's way as the blaze expands, said agency spokesman Marcus Kauffman.
Still, fewer dwellings were in immediate danger, especially along the
fire's southern flank where crews had more success.
Consequently, the number of homes under mandatory evacuation declined by
about half to just over 200 on Friday, while about 2,700 were placed on
stand-by alerts.
Strike teams have carved containment lines around 7% of the fire's
perimeter. But extreme fire growth fueled by low humidity, dry
vegetation and gusty winds forced firefighters to withdraw from leading
edges of the blaze for a fourth consecutive day on Friday, officials
said.
"The Bootleg fire perimeter is more than 200 miles long. That's an
enormous amount of line to build and hold," incident commander Rob Allen
said in a statement.
ANOTHER HEAT WAVE
Allen said hot, dry, windy conditions were expected to worsen over the
weekend, while meteorologists forecast the arrival of yet another major
Western heat wave, the fourth since early June.
This one, roasting portions of the Northern Rockies and High Plains
through Monday, will emanate from a high-pressure ridge building over
the Desert Southwest, said National Weather Service meteorologist David
Lawrence.
That high-pressure dome may help pull some much-needed moisture into
Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah and southern Idaho, Lawrence said. A
potential downside, however, is the increased chance of dry lightning
storms forming in central and northern California ahead of any rain that
may fall there, he added.
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A firefighting aircraft drops flame-retarding chemicals on the
Bootleg Fire as it expands to over 225,000 acres, in Bly, Oregon,
U.S., July 15, 2021. REUTERS/Mathieu Lewis-Rolland
More than 1,900 firefighters and a dozen helicopters
as well as airplane tankers and bulldozers were assigned to the
Bootleg fire as demand for personnel and equipment across the
Pacific Northwest strained available resources.
The Bootleg ranked as the largest by far of 70 major active
wildfires listed on Thursday as having burned more than 1 million
acres in 12 states, the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise,
Idaho, reported. It also stood as the fifth largest on record in
Oregon since 1900, according to state forestry figures.
As of Wednesday, the center in Boise put its "national wildland fire
preparedness level" at No. 5, the highest of its five-tier scale,
meaning most U.S. firefighting resources are currently deployed
somewhere across the country.
The situation represented an unusually busy start to the annual fire
season, coming amid extremely dry conditions and record-breaking
heat that has baked much of the West in recent weeks.
Scientists have said the growing frequency and intensity of
wildfires are largely attributable to prolonged drought and
increasing bouts of excessive heat that are symptomatic of climate
change.
Nearly 70 National Weather Service stations across the West have
posted all-time high temperatures this summer, and several hundred
record highs for specific dates have also been set, Lawrence said
The Bootleg fire is so large that it generates its own weather.
Towering pyrocumulus clouds form from condensed moisture that is
sucked up through the fire's smoke column from burned vegetation and
the surrounding atmosphere, and can spawn lightning and high winds.
The sudden "collapse" of one such cloud on Friday spread embers to
the east of the main fire zone, prompting additional evacuation
notices for two communities, Allen said.
(Reporting by Deborah Bloom in Klamath Falls, Ore.; Writing and
additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by
David Gregorio and Leslie Adler)
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