California, Oregon, Utah: Several states in the American West are affected by fires on Monday, as a new heat wave sweeps across the region.
East of Los Angeles, in Riverside County, two fires broke out Sunday in populated areas, local authorities said. They have so far burned about 2,000 acres (8 square kilometers), destroyed a handful of buildings and prompted evacuation orders.
Firefighters are currently battling 21 wildfires of varying sizes in California, according to CalFire.
A task complicated by a new heat wave that has been affecting the American West since the end of the week. More than 30 million Americans are affected by heatwave alerts on Monday, particularly in California, Arizona, Nevada, Washington State and Oregon.
In mid-July, California Governor Gavin Newsom warned of a fire season that “looks set to be very active,” after two years of respite brought about by very rainy winters.
The vegetation that has grown back is becoming very dry, due to the repeated heat waves since the beginning of June, which is facilitating the spread of fires.
By mid-July, forest fires had ravaged 840 km2 since the beginning of the year, compared to an average of 156 km2 at the same time for the last five years.
California also sent firefighters last week to neighboring Oregon, where the fire season “has started off very aggressively,” according to Gov. Tina Kotek.
The usually more temperate northwestern state is currently being hit by about 20 fires.
One of them, the Cow Valley Fire, reached megafire status last week as it burned more than 150 square miles in a sparsely populated, rural area. It is now 80 percent contained, according to local officials.
“It’s incredibly scary here”
Utah is also being hit by a wildfire that broke out Saturday near Salt Lake City. The fire has forced the evacuation of about 40 homes in the hills north of the city, and has caused panic among some residents who saw the flames up close.
“I ran out of the house and I was like, ‘This is my backyard,'” Hobbs told local station KSL TV. “It’s incredibly scary out here.”
Repeated heat waves are a marker of global warming linked to climate change caused by humanity’s reliance on fossil fuels, scientists say.
The stifling heat currently gripping the United States follows the hottest June on record worldwide, according to the European Copernicus Observatory.