Wildfires Torch Western United States As Record Heat Persists

ACROSS AMERICA — The 2021 fire season has barely begun, yet more than 900,000 acres were burning in the U.S. West on Tuesday, destroying homes, prompting evacuations and threatening power grids in some states.

More than 65 wildfires are tearing through bone-dry timber and brush in 12 states from Alaska to Wyoming, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Seven have reached scales of 50,000 acres or larger.

The largest fire is burning in rural southwestern Oregon. The Bootleg Fire — which has scorched about 316 square miles, an area more than twice the size of Portland — threatened some 2,000 homes, state fire officials told The Associated Press. On Tuesday, it had burned about 21 homes as well as other minor structures.

Fueling the fires is a climate change-caused megadrought as states also deal with yet another bout of record-breaking heat.

More than 18 million people went into Tuesday under some type of heat warning or alert as record-high temperatures spread over southeast Oregon, northern and eastern California, the Mojave Desert, eastern California, and parts of Nevada and Utah.

The sweltering temperatures follow a heat wave that claimed 83 lives in Oregon earlier this month. The state's hospital surveillance database showed more than 800 heat-related illness visits between June 24 and July 4, CNN reported.

Here’s a look at the wildfire threat several states are facing Tuesday:

Oregon

Six fires are currently active in Oregon, burning across nearly 223,500 acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

More than 1,100 firefighters are battling the Bootleg Fire, which was burning in Klamath and Lake counties, northeast of the town of Chiloquin, Oregon Live reported. Evacuations had been ordered in several communities.

The fire is also threatening recreation sites surrounding the Gearhart Mountain Wilderness in the Fremont-Winema National Forest. The area is home to campgrounds, hiking trails and fishing spots.

“We are under extreme weather conditions. The humidity is low, the fuels are highly flammable, and all those provide conditions for significant fire activity,” fire spokesman Daniel Omdal told the AP.

California

Wildfires have consumed more than three times as much land in California this year than in 2020, when the state recorded its worst fire season ever. There have been 4,991 fires in California since January, mostly due to extremely hot and dry conditions, according to a tweet from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Currently, eight fires are burning in California over more than 113,600 acres. Only two fires have been contained.

In Northern California, a combined pair of lightning-ignited blazes dubbed the Beckwourth Complex were 46 percent contained Tuesday after crews spent days battling flames in windy, hot and dry weather. Evacuation orders were in place for more than 3,000 residents of remote northern areas and neighboring Nevada, the AP reported.

The Bootleg Fire in Oregon disrupted service on transmission lines providing electricity to California, prompting officials to ask residents to conserve energy throughout the weekend and into Monday.

Meanwhile, Death Valley reaffirmed itself as the most blistering hot place on Earth this weekend. The region saw the highest minimum temperature ever recorded in North America —107.7 degrees — on the same day it saw a near-record high of 128.6 degrees, weather officials confirmed.

RELATED: Death Valley Records Hottest Temperature On Earth Again

Arizona

Wildfires have burned close to 480,000 acres in Arizona so far this year, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

The number of acres that Arizona has seen burned so far at 479,906 is just under half the number burned in the state in 2020 at 978,519, Arizona's worst wildfire season in nearly a decade, Phoenix-based KPNX reported.

Currently, 13 fires are burning across 177,000 acres. The largest is the Rafael Fire, which has scorched more than 78,000 acres since it originated in Yavapai County. Fortunately, the fire was reported 96 percent contained on Tuesday.

"Wildfire season" in Arizona usually runs through October.

Idaho

The Snake River Complex Fire in Idaho has burned through more than 88,000 acres in Nez Perce County and was reported zero percent contained Tuesday.

The Snake River Complex consists of three separate fires — the Shovel Creek, Captain John Creek and Hoover Ridge fires. All were started by lightning and were discovered the morning of July 7. The fires are in steep terrain and located approximately 20 miles south of Lewiston, just past the Waha area in the Craig Mountains.

Overall, 13 wildfires have burned through more than 108,000 acres.

New Mexico

A massive wildfire in Gila National Forest has wiped out nearly 89,000 acres of land. The fire, located three miles west of Gila Cliff Dwellings, was reported 75 percent contained Tuesday.

Montana

In Montana, 13 fires were burning Tuesday, scorching more than 73,000 acres.

The most active of three wildfires burning in southeast Montana’s Yellowstone and Musselshell counties doubled in size over the weekend, according to Montana Public Radio.

The Musselshell Trail Road Fire, which is part of the larger MY Complex Fire, has consumed 22,000 acres and was reported 43 percent contained Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Peterson fire now spans roughly 4,400 acres following the weekend’s dry, windy weather and 90-degree temperatures.

Alaska

More than six fires have been reported in Alaska, burning through more than 113,000 acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The largest is the Dry Creek Fire, which has burned through nearly 51,000 acres since it ignited 6 miles south of Manley Hot Springs.

Other wildfires affecting parts of the United States include:

Wyoming

• Fires: 2
• Acres: 7,497
• Fires contained: 0

Washington

• Fires: 3
• Acres: 7,175
• Fires contained: 0

Colorado

• Fires: 1
• Acres: 3,792
• Fires contained: 0

Utah

• Fires: 1
• Acres: 509
• Fires contained: 0

Minnesota

• Fires: 1
• Acres: 89
• Fires contained: 0