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California, Washington state battling fires amid unfavourable weather
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 06 - 08 - 2015


California fire authorities were bracing for
lightning strikes from scattered thunderstorms forecast for Thursday,
while dry, powerful winds were raising the threat posed by a major
blaze in Washington state, according to dpa.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire)
was on a high alert and warned of the risk of new lightning-sparked
fires in the state's drought-parched northern inland region.
The largest single existing blaze was affecting at least three
counties north-west of state capital Sacramento, Cal Fire said.
The so-called Rocky Fire has already scorched more than 27,000
hectares, destroyed 39 homes and 52 outbuildings and forced mandatory
and voluntary evacuations of 13,000 people, the state said Wednesday.
With nearly 3,500 firefighters deployed, the blaze was described as
20 per cent contained, after crossing a state highway on Monday where
Cal Fire had hoped to halt the conflagration. Cooler, more humid
weather slowed fire activity on Tuesday, allowing crews to build
containment lines ahead of the flames.
"The cooler temperatures really aided firefighters in their efforts,"
Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said.
Hotter conditions were expected later Wednesday, potentially
complicating work to control the fire, he said.
Dozens of other large fires, some covering thousands of hectares
each, were blazing in the state, especially northern California. One
in coastal Humboldt County "is actually made up of over 70 smaller
fires making up a little bit over 3,000 acres [1,200 hectares]" due
to lightning strikes, Berlant said.
Statewide, more than 10,000 firefighters are on the front lines
organized into 227 crews, with 770 fire engines, 153 bulldozers, 57
helicopters and dozens of large air tankers, he said.
Other states are providing wildfire crews to give California
firefighters brief respites.
Thunderstorms in Thursday's forecast present new dangers, Berlant
said.
"While they might cool temperatures just a bit, they're going to have
the possibility of more dry lightning, sparking more of these
wildfires," he said. "So crews still on high alert."
With an ongoing drought in much of California, the pace of fires this
year is already more than 50 per cent above the average through seven
months, Cal Fire said.
Farther north up the Pacific Coast in Washington state, a fire along
the Columbia River in the state's arid inland region broke out
Tuesday and by Wednesday morning grew to 4,000 hectares, the state's
Emergency Management Division said. The blaze threatened 350 homes.
The fire was near tiny Roosevelt, Washington, on the north bank of
the Columbia River, which forms the state line to neighbouring
Oregon. All 200 residents were evacuated from the village, about 210
kilometres east of Portland, Oregon.
The National Weather Service issued a red-flag warning for critical
fire weather conditions, forecasting a "combination of gusty winds
and low relative humidity values" for the fire-stricken lower
Columbia basin of Washington and Oregon, as well as the Yakima Valley
and the foothills of the Blue Mountains.
Sustained winds were expected as high as 35 kilometres per hour with
gusts approaching 50 kilometres per hour, amid humidity below 20 per
cent.
"Any fires that develop will likely spread rapidly. Outdoor burning
is not recommended," the weather service said in a statement from its
office in Pendleton, Oregon.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a declaration
Wednesday making federal fire management assistance available for the
Roosevelt blaze.


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