Vicious California wildfire swells staggering 62 times in size overnight
Wildfires in California and Montana have spiralled overnight, fuelled by hot and windy conditions and threatening neighbourhoods and forcing evacuation orders.
In California’s Klamath National Forest, a largely rural area near the Oregon state line, the fast-moving McKinney fire went from scorching just over one square mile (about 2.5 sq km) on Friday, to tearing across 62 square miles (160 sq km) by Saturday.
The blaze burned down at least a dozen homes, and observers spotted wildlife fleeing the area.
Klamath National Forest spokeswoman Caroline Quintanilla warned the blaze was “continuing to grow with erratic winds and thunderstorms in the area and we’re in triple-digit (Fahrenheit) temperatures.”
With lightning forecasted over the next few days, extra resources from elsewhere in the state are being brought in to help fight the region’s fires, according to the US Forest Service.
California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency on Saturday as the fire escalated, which granted him more flexibility to make emergency response and recovery effort decisions and access federal aid.
It also allows “firefighting resources from other states to assist California crews in battling the fires”, according to a statement from the governor’s office.
More on California Wildfires
-
Lives shattered and homes destroyed in the shadow of the Sierra Nevada
-
More than 6,000 evacuated in California wildfires – but this is only the beginning
-
Dixie Fire: Historic blaze that destroyed nearly a million acres in California caused by utility firm’s equipment, officials say
Related Topics:
- California Wildfires
- climate change
Climate breakdown is increasing both the likelihood of and the surface area scorched by wildfires in the US, Europe and Australia, by creating hot and dry conditions.
More than four million hectares that burned in the US between 1984 and 2015 is directly attributable to climate change, according to a peer-reviewed study.
Read more:
Staggering images show Europe still on fire
Thousands ordered to flee as officials declare state of emergency due to ‘explosive’ California wildfire
Meanwhile, further northeast in Montana, a wildfire nearly tripled in size to more than 11 square miles (28 sq km) near the town of Elmo and Flathead Lake.
Roughly 200 miles to the south, Idaho residents remained under evacuation orders as the Moose Fire in the Salmon-Challis National Forest burned more than 67 square miles (174 sq km) of timbered land near the town of Salmon.
A build-up of vegetation was fuelling the McKinney fire in California, according to Tom Stokesberry, regional spokesman for the US Forest Service.
“It’s a very dangerous fire – the geography there is steep and rugged, and this particular area hasn’t burned in a while,” he said.
Watch the Daily Climate Show at 3.30pm Monday to Friday, and The Climate Show with Tom Heap on Saturday and Sunday at 3.30pm and 7.30pm.
All on Sky News, on the Sky News website and app, on YouTube and Twitter.
The show investigates how global warming is changing our landscape and highlights solutions to the crisis.
