Bootleg fire burns Oregon as heat wave continues west

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The scorching heat included a 130-degree reading in California’s Death Valley on Friday, matching a similar temperature recorded in August 2020. The temperature in the area reached just over 120 degrees on Sunday.

Dangerously hot conditions, with temperatures ranging from 100 to 118 degrees, are expected in the western Mojave Desert and Owens Valley, in California, and throughout western and south-central Nevada, including Las Vegas, in Clark County, through Tuesday.

Before the heat wave hit, cooling centers popped up all over California. Portable air conditioners were reported to be sold out in stores in Salem, Oregon, in June. Both restaurants and outpatient Covid-19 vaccine clinics in Portland have closed.

The Bootleg Fire began in the Fremont-Winema National Forest near the Sprague River on Tuesday, just before 2 p.m., according to a report on the incident. While the massive fire started in a relatively remote area, it quickly traveled close to homes, leading in Klamath County to a level 3 evacuation, meaning residents must leave immediately because danger is imminent.

The sheriff’s office there also said it had “taken the rare step of martyring or apprehending those who remained in or were trying to re-enter Level 3 evacuation areas in the Bootleg Fire District.”

Heat wave hits North America

As stifling heat hits most of western North America, experts are concerned about human safety and power outages.

Western Canada: Canada broke a national heat record on June 27, when the temperature in a small British Columbia town reached nearly 116 degrees Fahrenheit, smashing an 84-year record by nearly 3 degrees, with dangerously hot weather expected to continue. . Several more days – US Pacific Northwest: A heat dome covered the area raising temperatures to extreme levels – with temperatures well above 100 degrees – and creating dangerous conditions in a part of the country unaccustomed to harsh summer weather or air conditioning . Much of the western half of the United States is in the grip of a severe drought of historic proportions. Conditions are particularly poor in California and the Southwest, but the drought extends into the Pacific Northwest, much of West Intermountain, and even the northern plains. Extreme heat exacerbates dry conditions. Growing power shortages: Power outages have increased more than 60 percent since 2015, even as climate change exacerbated heat waves, according to new research published in the Journal of Environmental Science and Technology. Rain, snow, and other weather events reveal how climate has changed in the United States. One major takeaway is that the country is getting hotter.

This summer, with record temperatures, heat waves have already killed 78 people since late June in Washington state, and another 116 in Oregon. Homeless and sick or elderly people make up a significant part of the death toll.

Oregon wasn’t the only state battling wildfires over the weekend.

In California, the Bickworth compound fire, which began with lightning, has consumed more than 86,000 acres in the Plumas National Forest and is 20 percent contained as of Monday morning. She jumped on a major highway, US 395, on Saturday, while photos and videos showed buildings, cars and hillsides completely on fire.

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