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 of up to 50 mph as they battled the blaze that has burned through parts of the footprint left by another springtime fire that destroyed more than two dozen homes. No homes have been lost in the fire that started Sunday and 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 have destroyed hundreds of homes while causing environmental damage that is expected to effect future water supplies.
Nationally, more than 6,200 wildland firefighters were battling nearly three dozen uncontained fires that had charred over 1 million acres (4,408 square kilometers), according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
Even in Alaska, forecasters have warned that many fires in the southwest corner of that state have experienced exceptional growth over the last week, which is unusual for that area. Southwest Alaska normally experiences shorter periods of high fire danger since intermittent rain can provide relief, but since mid-May the region has been hot and windy, helping to dry out vegetation.
Favorable weather Monday helped slow progression of a tundra wildfire just over 3 miles (4.83 kilometers) away from an Alaska Native village. Moderate temperatures and a shift in the wind that had been driving the fire toward St. Mary’s will allow firefighters to directly attack the flames and increase safety protections for the Yup’ik community.
The lightning-sparked fire is estimated at about 193 square miles (500 square kilometers). It’s burning in dry grass and shrubs in the mostly treeless tundra in southwest Alaska.
In California, evacuation orders were in place Monday for remote homes near a wildfire that flared up over the weekend northeast of Los Angeles near the Pacific Crest Trail in the San Gabriel Mountains.