As hot, dry weather conditions continue to fuel wildfires across much of the United States, the Bootleg Fire in Oregon has become so intense that it s creating its own weather. The fire has scorched more than 606 square miles an area larger than Los Angeles and about half the size of Rhode Island. It grew to more than 388,350 acres overnight from Monday to Tuesday and is 30% contained, according to data from the InciWeb interagency website. It s one of at least eight large fires burning in Oregon and one of at least 83 burning across 13 states, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The climate crisis has made deadlier and more destructive wildfires the new normal.
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Just two weeks after sparking, The Bootleg fire has exploded to nearly 400,000 acres, accounting for the vast majority of Oregon forest burnt thus far in 2021. Containment has increased to an estimated 30%.
Not only is the blaze the nation’s largest fire, but Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said in a press conference today that it’s also “the fourth largest fire to burn in Oregon since 1900.”
The Bootleg Fire remains most active in the east, where flames jumped Forest Road 28 on Monday, and is now spreading toward Summer Lake. In the governor’s press briefing Tuesday, Doug Grafe, Chief of Fire Protection at the Oregon Department of Forestry, said that the east side is “where we would expect it’s possible to see another 50,000-100,000 acres [of growth].”
U.S. Forest Service via Inciweb
Originally published on July 20, 2021 1:47 pm
In a press conference Tuesday, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown offered an update on efforts to fight several large wildfires burning across the state, including the Bootleg Fire in Klamath and Lake counties, which has now grown to nearly 400,000 acres and constitutes the nation’s largest conflagration.
“It’s mid July, and already nearly 450,000 acres have burned across the state. We currently have nine large fires burning in Oregon, including the country’s largest with the Bootleg Fire right now, the fourth largest fire to burn in Oregon since 1900, Brown said.
July 20 2021
Governor, officials push for more preparedness as huge fires burn hundreds of acres, COVID variant looms.
Oregon is experiencing August-like fire danger conditions in mid-July, creating the likelihood of a historic fire season for the second year in a row.
Nearly 500,000 acres have burned from nearly 1,000 fires this year, said Doug Grafe, chief of fire protection for the Oregon Department of Forestry during a Tuesday, July 20, press call on current fire conditions.
Most fires are caught at under 10 acres, but each has the potential to become a major blaze, fire officials said.
Gov. Kate Brown and state fire response officials warned that conditions were extreme for fire danger that would last for at least three more months. Oregon residents in nearly every point in the state needed to prepare now for how to handle a wildfire emergency, they said.