A fire, the largest of the year in California, progressed on Sunday July 31 through the arid regions of the western American state, fanned by strong winds, destroying houses and forcing thousands of people to evacuate their homes. homes, authorities said.
The fire, dubbed “McKinneydestroyed more than 20,638 hectares of the Klamath National Forest near the northern California town of Yreka, the CalFire fire agency said. This is the largest wildfire since the start of the year in California, which has already been hit by several other fires this summer.
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Persistent drought situation
State Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency on Saturday, saying the blaze had “destroyed houses” and “threatened critical infrastructuresince its outbreak on Friday. The fire startedintensified and widespread due to dry fuels, extreme drought conditions, high temperatures, winds as well as thunderstorms“said Gavin Newsom in a press release.
More than 2,000 residents have been served with evacuation orders, according to the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, mostly in Siskiyou County. “Residents of surrounding areas should be prepared to leave if necessary. Please feel free to evacuatethe county sheriff tweeted.
Yreka resident Larry Castle told the Sacramento Bee newspaper that he and his wife packed a few things and took their three dogs before leaving for the night. Other fires in recent years have taught them that the situation could become “very, very serious“.
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Nearly 650 people intervened on Sunday to put out the fire, according to the National Forest Fire Coordination Group. The fire season in California, a state in a persistent drought situation, is expected to last several months. In recent years, California and other parts of the western United States have been ravaged by rapid and large fires as a result of global warming.
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