Western wildfires force evacuations in Arizona, California
FLAGSTAFF, ARIZ. » The Western U.S. on Monday marked another day of hot, dry and windy weather as crews from California to New Mexico battled wildfires that had forced hundreds of people to leave their homes.
Several hundred homes on the outskirts of Flagstaff, Arizona, were evacuated and the Arizona Snowbowl ski resort was closed as a precaution because of a wildfire — the second to hit the area this year.
Crews were expecting gusts up to 50 mph as they battled the blaze that has burned through parts of the footprint left by another springtime fire that destroyed over two dozen homes. No homes have been lost in the fire reported Sunday that has burned about 8 square miles.
“It’s literally like déjà vu,” said Coconino County sheriff’s spokesman Jon Paxton. “We are in the same exact spot doing the same exact thing as we were a month and a half ago. People are tired.”
Wildfires broke out early this spring in multiple states in the Western U.S., where climate change and an enduring drought are fanning the frequency and intensity of forest and grassland fires.
The number of square miles burned so far this year is more than double the 10-year national average, and states like New Mexico already have set records with devastating blazes that destroyed hundreds of homes while causing environmental damage that is expected to effect water supplies.
Nationally, more than 6,200 wildland firefighters were battling nearly three dozen uncontained fires that had charred over 1 million acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
Even in Alaska, forecasters have warned that many southwestern fires have grown exceptionally over the last week, which is unusual for that area. Southwest Alaska normally experiences shorter periods of high fire danger because intermittent rain can provide relief, but since mid-May the region has been hot and windy, helping to dry out vegetation.