Heatwave, wildfires hit US West
Print Edition
Death Valley in southeastern California’s Mojave Desert reached 53 degrees Celsius on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service’s reading at Furnace Creek. The shockingly high temperature was actually lower than the previous day’s 54 degrees.
If confirmed as accurate, the 54-degree reading would be the hottest high recorded there since July 1913, when Furnace Creek desert hit 57 degrees, considered the highest measured temperature on Earth.
About 485 kilometers northwest of the sizzling desert, the largest wildfire of the year in California was raging along the border with Nevada. The Beckwourth Complex Fire — a combination of two lightning-caused fires burning 72km north of Lake Tahoe — showed no sign of slowing its rush northeast from the Sierra Nevada forest region after doubling in size between Friday and Saturday.
Late on Saturday, flames jumped Interstate 395 and was threatening properties in Nevada’s Washoe County. “Take immediate steps to protect large animals and livestock,” the Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District tweeted.
The blaze, which was only 8 percent contained, increased dramatically to 222 square kilometers as firefighters sweltered in 40-degree temperatures.
It was one of several threatening homes across Western states that were expected to see triple-digit heat through the weekend as a high-pressure zone blankets the region.
Pushed by strong winds, a wildfire in southern Oregon doubled in size to 310 square kilometers on Saturday as it raced through heavy timber in the Fremont-Winema National Forest near the Klamath County town of Sprague River.
The California Independent System Operator warned of potential power shortages, not only because of mounting heat, but because a wildfire in southern Oregon was threatening transmission lines that carry power to California.
Governor Gavin Newsom issued an emergency proclamation on Friday suspending rules to allow for more power capacity, and the ISO requested emergency assistance from other states. On Saturday, Newsom issued another proclamation allowing the emergency use of auxiliary ship engines to relieve pressure on the electric grid.
NV Energy, Nevada’s largest power provider, also urged customers to conserve electricity on Saturday and yesterday evenings because of the heatwave and wildfires affecting transmission lines throughout the region.
In Southern California, a brush fire sparked by a burning big rig in eastern San Diego County forced evacuations of two Native American reservations on Saturday.
In north-central Arizona, Yavapai County on Saturday lifted an evacuation warning for Black Canyon City, an unincorporated town 66km north of Phoenix, after a fire in nearby mountains no longer posed a threat. In Mohave County, Arizona, two firefighters died on Saturday after an aircraft they were in to respond to a small wildfire crashed, local media reported.
A wildfire in southeast Washington grew to almost 55 square kilometers as it blackened grass and timber while it moved into the Umatilla National Forest.
In Idaho, Governor Brad Little declared a wildfire emergency on Friday and mobilized the state’s National Guard to help.
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