West wrestles with dozens of wildfires in dry weather
Spring Creek blaze is Colorado’s third-largest
Huge wildfires roared across the bone-dry western USA on Thursday, including Colorado’s Spring Creek Fire, the state’s third-largest on record.
That fire has destroyed 100 homes and forced the evacuations of 2,000 other homes. The blaze is near Fort Garland, roughly 205 miles southwest of Denver.
Nearly 1,000 firefighters worked to gain control of the fire in unpredictable winds, but it’s been only slightly contained since it ignited June 27. As of Thursday morning, the fire was 161 square miles, roughly seven times the size of Manhattan.
Jesper Jorgensen, 52, was arrested on criminal charges of arson related to starting the fire. According to an arrest affidavit, he was cooking meat for several hours in a fire pit the night before the blaze started.
Another Colorado blaze, the Lake Christine Fire, forced evacuations early Thursday morning about 20 miles northwest of Aspen. The fire jumped from less than 1 square mile to about 4 square miles Wednesday, the Denver Post reported.
The fire may have been started by tracer rounds fired at a shooting range.
In Northern California, the County Fire burned about 134 square miles and was 27 percent contained in Napa and Yolo Counties. The blaze threatened 1,500 structures.
Roughly 2,500 people have been forced from their homes since the blaze started Saturday. This week in the Bay Area, about 75 miles south of the fires, falling ash was reported, and the San Francisco sky turned orange from the smoke, weather.com reported.
Rain is unlikely in the West on Thursday or Friday. Some monsoon-type thunderstorms could arrive over the weekend in the Southwest, according to AccuWeather.
“We’re looking at hot weather to continue with potential for some scattered afternoon and early nighttime thunderstorms that could bring some spotty rain but could also cause lightning-induced fires,” AccuWeather meteorologist Ken Clark said.
Overall, more than 60 blazes are burning across the western continental USA and in Alaska, the National Interagency Fire Center said. In 2018, wildfires have charred 4,272 square miles in the USA, about 555 square miles above average.