WASHINGTON, Washington – Canada is sending nearly 300 firefighters and technical specialists to help beat back the flames ravaging Oregon, one of three states where wildfires are razing buildings, claiming lives and chasing residents from their homes along the U.S. West Coast. Some 230 firefighters, most from British Columbia but including a number from Alberta, will be deployed on Friday, said Edwin Gillis, fire centre manager with the Winnipeg-based Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. They will be joining between 40 to 50 “overhead personnel” ⏤ supervisors, specialists and technical experts ⏤ from Ontario, Manitoba, B.C. and Alberta who are leaving on Thursday, Gillis said. …”The request received from the U.S. National Interagency Co-ordination Center was for assistance on federal land in northern California and Oregon,” Gillis said.
See more: B.C. firefighters step up to help south of the border – Government of British Columbia Press Release
A fast-moving, rapidly growing wildfire erupted Saturday and expanded to more than 8,788 acres by Sunday morning in northwest Boulder County, Colo., prompting the evacuation of at least 3,000 people and sending hikers and campers fleeing to safety. The fire is just 5 percent contained, and low clouds grounded firefighting aircraft this morning. “There were a number of aircraft on order,” Boulder County Sheriff’s Office Division Chief Mike Wagner said in a news briefing. Wagner said the fire already ranks as the largest blaze in Boulder County history based on its acreage, and damage assessment teams have not yet been able to access the fire to determine how many homes and other structures may have been lost.
Fire season in California looks different these days. Temperatures are hotter. Fires are bigger and more destructive. Air quality is the worst in decades. Although fire season is a perennial challenge in California, the scale and destruction of fires in recent years feel worse than anything many can remember. To see whether that’s true, The Times analyzed decades of data tracking California wildfires and the destruction they’ve wrought. The analysis found that wildfires and their compounding effects have intensified in recent years — and there’s little sign things will improve. The last 10 years have shattered records. 2020 tops them all. …The total area consumed [by fire] has increased sharply this decade. With fire season still beginning, 2020 has already shattered the all-time record with 3.2 million acres burned so far. Since the state’s fire season usually doesn’t peak until fall, when Santa Ana and Diablo winds pick up, this record-breaking year may still get much worse.
