Guwahati News Desk: Due to the oppressively hot and dry weather, looming over much of the Western US and Canada on Sunday, the enormous Bootleg Fire in Oregon, that initially started on 6th July, grew again and authorities ordered new evacuations.
The Bootleg Fire, has been burning in the Fremont-Winema National Forest along the Oregon and California border since 6th July.
As of Monday morning, the fire has burned 303,791 acres with a containment of 25 percent.
Oregon residents were asked to prepare to evacuate as the Bootleg Fire scorches more than 300,000 acres.
Officials have stated, that the Bootleg Fire is now the largest of 80 major fires, now active in the US, spreading overnight from 274,000 acres to 290,000 acres, i.e. three times the size of the metropolis of Detroit.
The National Weather service showed the satellite images of a huge plume of smoke soaring from Bootleg, in southern Oregon.
As stated by the scientists, the climate change amplifies droughts which create ideal conditions for wildfires to spread.
The National Interagency Fire Center said the outlook was for “very hot, dry and unstable conditions across the inland Pacific Northwest, Northern Rockies and Plains into northern Minnesota.”
Nearly 20,000 firefighters and support personnel continue to struggle to contain the raging fires across the Western states, with more than 2.5 million acres already having burned this year.
Photo | Representative Image
