California wildfire advances as heat wave blankets US West
Firefighters struggled to contain an exploding Northern California wildfire under blazing temperatures as another heat wave blanketed the western United States, prompting a warning of excessive heat for inland and desert areas.
The temperature in Death Valley in the Mojave Desert of southeastern California reached 53 C on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service’s reading at Furnace Creek. That temperature was in fact lower than the previous day’s 54 C.
If confirmed as accurate, the temperature would be the highest recorded there since July 1913, when 57 C was recorded in the Furnace Creek desert, where temperatures are regarded as the highest measured on Earth.
About 483 kilometers northwest of the desert, the largest wildfire of the year in California was raging along the border with Nevada. The Beckwourth Complex Fire, a combination of two lightning-caused fires burning 72 kms north of Lake Tahoe, showed no sign of slowing its rush northeast from the Sierra Nevada forest region after doubling in size between Friday and Saturday.
Late on Saturday flames jumped Interstate 395 and were threatening properties in Washoe County, Nevada. “Take immediate steps to protect large animals and livestock,” the Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District warned.
The blaze, which was only eight percent contained, increased to 222 square km as firefighters sweltered in extreme temperatures.
It was one of several threatening homes across Western states that were expected to have triple-digit Fahrenheit readings over the weekend as a high-pressure zone blanketed the region.
Pushed by strong winds, a wildfire in southern Oregon doubled in size to 311 square km on Saturday as it raced through heavy timber in the FremontWinema National Forest near the Klamath County town of Sprague River.
The US National Weather Service warned the dangerous conditions could cause heat-related illnesses, and California’s power grid operator issued a statewide alert from 4 pm to 9 pm on Saturday to avoid disruptions and rolling blackouts.
The California Independent System Operator warned of potential power shortages, not only because of mounting heat, but also because a wildfire in southern Oregon was threatening transmission lines that carry imported power to California.
Late on Saturday afternoon Las Vegas tied its all-time record high temperature of 47 C, the National Weather Service said. The city has recorded that record-high temperature four other times, most recently in June 2017.
In Southern California a brush fire in eastern San Diego County forced evacuations of two Native American reservations on Saturday.