Thousands of residents flee massive wildfire in northern California

A wildfire raged Wednesday, July 3, in northern California, forcing thousands of residents to evacuate the region. A total of 1,400 hectares of grasslands and forest have been consumed since Tuesday near Oroville, where authorities have asked more than 10,000 people to leave as the western United States braces for a long and intense heatwave.

Temperatures could reach 46°C in the coming days, a long weekend in the United States with the July 4th holiday. This blaze is striking just a few dozen kilometers from Paradise, a town hit in 2018 by the deadliest fire in the history of this American state with 85 deaths.

Faced with this situation, the governor of California, the elected Democrat Gavin Newsom, declared a state of emergency. “As we enter the most challenging months of wildfire season, the state is better prepared than ever to protect at-risk communities with new tools, new technologies and new resources.”he said.

Despite having enjoyed very rainy winters in the last two years, the western United States has been facing a drought for about twenty years. And the summer of 2024 is already shaping up to be very hot and dry. However, the recent excess precipitation has favored vegetation, which, once dried out, turns into fuel for the flames. Added to this context is a very special week in the United States, that of the National Holiday of the Fourth of July, traditionally celebrated by Americans with their own fireworks, a nightmare for firefighters.