BLY, Ore.—An army of firefighters labored in hot, dry and windy weather Tuesday to contain fires chewing through wilderness and burning homes across drought-stricken Western states.
More than 60 active large blazes are burning in the West and Alaska.
More than 14,000 firefighters and support personnel were attacking fires covering close to a million acres (1,562 square miles) of land, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
The largest fire in the United States was incinerating huge swaths of the Fremont-Winema National Forest in southern Oregon, where firefighters received a warning about conditions from incident commander Al Lawson.
“As you go out there today—adjust your reality,“ he said. ”We have not seen a fire move like this, in these conditions, this early in the year. Expect the fire to do things that you have not seen before.”
The week-old Bootleg Fire had ravaged about 316 square miles by Tuesday morning, threatening about 2,000 homes and destroying more than 20 others, along with other minor structures. The fire’s movement prompted authorities to place additional areas under evacuation notice and expand the number of acres ordered closed on an emergency basis inside Fremont-Winema.
Firefighters have had some success in keeping the Bootleg Fire out of several small communities.
“Quick actions from crews on the ground prevented numerous homes from catching fire during nighttime ember showers,” a U.S. Forest Service statement said Monday.
The fire disrupted three transmission lines that provide electricity to California and the state’s power grid operator asked for voluntary power conservation Monday. The California Independent System Operator said Tuesday that the grid was stable and with the forecast for cooler temperatures another call for conservation was not expected.
In northeastern California, progress was reported on the state’s largest fire so far this year. The Beckwourth Complex, a combined pair of lighting-ignited blazes, was almost 50 percent contained after blackening more than 145 square miles near the Nevada state line.
Damage was still being tallied in the rural community of Doyle, California, where flames swept in during the weekend and destroyed several homes, including Beverly Houdyshell’s.
The 79-year-old said Tuesday that she’s too old and too poor to rebuild and isn’t sure what her future holds.
“What chance do I have to build another house, to have another home?” Houdyshell said. “No chance at all.”
Doyle remained under evacuation orders but other areas were on warning status, meaning residents were told to be ready to leave if necessary.
A fire that began Sunday in the Sierra Nevada south of Yosemite National Park grew to nearly 15 square miles but containment increased to 15 percent. Four unspecified buildings were destroyed.
Elsewhere, several wildfires burned in north-central Washington state, prompting an evacuation order for the town of Nespelem and surrounding areas. The Northwest Interagency Coordination Center said about 60 lightning strikes were reported Monday on or near the town, sparking five wildfires. The largest had burned approximately 15.6 square miles in grass, sagebrush and timber and had zero containment.
A 9-mile stretch of Interstate 15 across the corner of northwestern Arizona reopened to traffic Tuesday after a 5 1/2-hour overnight closure due to a brush fire.
