Wildfires threaten US West Coast, force evacuations

Wildfires are raging throughout large areas of the drought-stricken West Coast of the United States, threatening to destroy hundreds of buildings and prompting thousands of people to evacuate.

About a thousand people were evacuated from their neighborhoods in Southern California Wednesday after a wildfire started and spread quickly.

The fires have consumed more than 100 acres and threatened homes in the Santa Clarita area, located 30 miles (48.2) northwest of downtown Los Angeles, authorities said.

Authorities said hot weather was making the firefighting effort more challenging, as temperatures surpassed 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius) and wind gusts registered near 30 mph (48.2 km/h).

“Vegetation is feeling the stress from over three years' cumulative drought and historically low snowpack in the mountains this past winter," according to fire-tracking website InciWeb, which pulls information from multiple agencies.

An out-of-control wildfire also threatened to reach on a mountain town in California's Lake Tahoe area on Wednesday, prompting road and campsite closures.

Hundreds of firefighters supported by water-dropping aircraft were working hard to keep the 16,543 acre (6,695 hectares) wind-whipped blaze from Markleeville, which is located about three miles (4.8 km) from the fire's leading edge.

In Alaska, a wildfire that has grown to 33,000 acres (13,355 hectares) had reached to within four miles of the small community of Tanana on Wednesday, where residents were told to leave their homes on Tuesday.

In Oregon, a fire in the southwestern part of the state grew by about 300 acres (121 hectares) from Tuesday to 5,340 acres (2,161 hectares) but was about 50 percent contained.

Scientists say the drought-stricken US West Coast has the potential to strengthen wildfires that could destroy homes, affect watersheds and cost hundreds of millions of dollars to extinguish during the warm summer months.

California’s four-year drought has already cost the state billions of dollars and placed thousands of jobs at risk. More than 12 million trees in California forests have died and more are expected to do so soon, according to a Forest Service report.

“We are seeing wildfires in the United States grow to sizes that were unimaginable just 20 or 30 years ago,” US Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell told Congress last month. “We expect 2015 to continue the trend of above average fire activity.”

AHT/AGB

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