Western wildfires threaten thousands of homes, strain resources

Firefighters prepare for sweltering weekend as wildfires scorch California, Oregon

Senior correspondent Claudia Cowan reports on wildfires that have destroyed towns and span 14 western states.

A month-old wildfire burning through forest lands in Northern California menaced a small lumber town as blazes across Western states strained resources and threatened thousands of homes.

Crews were cutting back brush and using bulldozers to build lines to keep the Dixie Fire from reaching Westwood east of Lake Almanor, not far from where the lightning-caused blaze destroyed much of the town of Greenville last week.

The entire town of about 1,700 people was placed under evacuation orders Aug. 5 as the blaze inched closer.

CalFire firefighters and California Correctional Center (CCC) inmates fight a spot fire on the side of Highway CA-36 between Chester and Westwood in Plumas County, Calif., Friday, Aug. 13, 2021. In California, the Dixie Fire that virtually destroyed the Sierra Nevada town of Greenville is less than a third surrounded. Fire officials say Northern California will have dangerous fire weather on Friday, including possible lightning that could spark more blazes. Climate change has made the U.S. West warmer and drier in the past 30 years and will continue to make the weather more extreme and wildfires more destructive, according to scientists. (AP Photo/Eugene Garcia)

To the northwest, the Monument Fire — one of at least three large blazes sparked by lightning last month — continued to grow after destroying a dozen homes and threatening about 2,500 homes in a sparsely populated region. U.S. Forest Service officials said Friday that flying embers ignited spot fires up to a mile ahead of the main blaze in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.

They were among more than 100 large wildfires burning in a dozen Western states seared by drought and hot, bone-dry weather that has turned forests, brushlands, meadows and pastures into tinder.

The Forest Service said Friday it’s operating in crisis mode, fully deploying firefighters and maxing out its support system.

The roughly 21,000 federal firefighters working on the ground is more than double the number sent to contain forest fires at this time a year ago, and the agency is facing “critical resources limitations,” said Anthony Scardina, a deputy forester for the Pacific Southwest region.

More than 6,000 firefighters alone were battling the Dixie Fire, which has destroyed more than 1,000 homes, businesses and other structures, and is the largest wildfire burning in the U.S. Its flames have ravaged more than 800 square miles.

There also was a danger of new fires erupting because of unstable weather conditions, including a chance of thunderstorms that could bring lightning to Northern California, Oregon and Nevada, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

“Mother Nature just kind of keeps throwing us obstacles our way,” said Edwin Zuniga, a spokesman with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, which is working with the Forest Service to contain the Dixie Fire.

In southeastern Montana, firefighters and residents were scrambling to save hundreds of homes as flames advanced across the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation.

The blaze was more than 50% contained. But its southern edge was still burning near the tribal headquarters town of Lame Deer, where a mandatory evacuation remained in place, and a second fire was threatening from the opposite direction.

The fires already had burned or threatened grasslands that many residents with cattle and horses depend upon for their livelihoods, Montana officials said.

Smoke from the blazes grew so thick Friday that the health clinic in Lame Deer was shut down after its air filters could not keep up with the pollution, Northern Cheyenne Tribe spokesperson Angel Becker said.

Smoke also drove air pollution levels to unhealthy or very unhealthy levels in parts of Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Northern California, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Hot, dry weather with strong afternoon winds also propelled several fires in Washington state, and similar weather was expected into the weekend, fire officials said.

In southeastern Oregon, two new wildfires started by lightning Thursday near the California border spread rapidly through trees and brush.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown declared an emergency for one of the fires to mobilize crews and other resources to the area of ranches, rural subdivisions and RV parks about 14 miles from the small town of Lakeview.

Triple-digit temperatures and bone-dry conditions in Oregon, enduring a third day of extreme heat, is expected to increase fire risk through the weekend.

Climate change has made the West warmer and drier in the past 30 years and will continue to make the weather more extreme and wildfires more destructive, according to scientists.

Dozens of fires also are burning in western Canada and in Europe, including Greece, where a massive wildfire has decimated forests and torched homes.

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