(Los Angeles) One person has died in a wildfire in Colorado, in the western United States, local authorities announced Wednesday, at a time when the country is facing a hundred fires and fears the arrival of a new heat wave.
“Human remains” were discovered in a house destroyed by fire near Lyons, Colorado, Boulder County Sheriff Curtis Johnson said at a news briefing, calling it “a fatality related to this fire.”
The fire broke out on Tuesday afternoon, according to local authorities, and remains modest in size for now: it has burned 5 km2 ground.
It is one of 95 wildfires currently burning in the United States, where fires have been raging this summer after several heat waves that have dried out vegetation since early June.
Oregon, Idaho, Washington, Montana… The West of the country is widely affected, particularly California, where firefighters are battling around twenty fires on Wednesday.
The Park Fire continues to rage in a rural area three hours northeast of San Francisco and is now the fifth largest wildfire in California history: as of Wednesday morning, it had ravaged nearly 1,580 km2 of forest.
PHOTO LOREN ELLIOTT, THE NEW YORK TIMES ARCHIVES
The “Park Fire” has ravaged nearly 1,580 km2 of forest.
The “megafire” is mobilizing thousands of firefighters and reinforcements from other states such as Texas. It broke out last week after a man drove a burning car into a ravine, according to the local prosecutor’s office.
It caused several thousand evacuations and its violence impressed most experts: it advanced at the speed of a man walking for the first 48 hours, and generated spectacular clouds of smoke, as well as a sort of fire tornado.
In central California, firefighters are also battling a massive wildfire raging through the Sequoia National Forest, home to some of the region’s iconic trees. The blaze nearly razed the small village of Havilah over the weekend, with no casualties.
PHOTO KYLE GRILLOT, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
A forest fire nearly razed the small village of Havilah this weekend, without causing any casualties.
In recent days, firefighters have gained ground against both fires, helped by a slight drop in temperatures. But a new heat wave is set to hit the American West starting Thursday, which is expected to increase the risks associated with the fires.
On Tuesday, California Governor Gavin Newsom urged Americans to be extra vigilant in a region where climate change is lengthening the wildfire season.
” Remember that […] “It’s not just in August, September and October, but probably in November and December, that we will have to fight against the ferocity of Mother Nature and these fires,” he insisted.