Bootleg Fire: The largest wildfire in the United States grew by about 1,000 acres every hour

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This means that the fire spread over about 24,000 acres per day on average, or just over 1,000 acres per hour. That’s an area bigger than the Central Park area every hour, or the rate of a football field burned every 5 seconds for 10 days, CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller said.

The blaze, which began July 6 in the Fremont-Winema National Forest and on private land near the town of Sprague River in Oregon, has charred 241,497 acres and remains only 7% contained, according to InciWeb , the clearinghouse for information on forest fires across the country. .

“The Bootleg Fire perimeter is over 200 miles long. That’s a huge amount of line to build and maintain.” Rob Allen, incident commander for the Pacific Northwest Region 2 Incident Management Team, said in an online update.

The blaze also affected transmission lines used to import electricity into California, officials said.

“This fire will continue to spread – the extremely dry vegetation and the weather are not in our favor,” said Joe Hessel, commander of operations for the Oregon Forestry Department.

Bootleg is one of 10 forest fires currently burning in Oregon, which was recently stoked during the historic heat wave that swept through the West.
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The blaze destroyed at least 21 homes and put 2,000 more at risk, state blaze officials said.

Gravity led California authorities to send even more firefighting resources to the state.

California’s latest mutual aid deployment to Oregon comes just a day after the National Multi-Agency Coordination Group raised the National Readiness Level to Level 5 – its highest level – due to the ‘intense fire activity across the country and resources engaged in the large fires, “Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said in a press release.

Dee McCarley kisses her cat Bunny, which she took with her during the Bootleg Fire evacuation on July 14, 2021.

“The impacts of climate change are contributing to the increasingly dangerous and destructive wildfires in the western United States,” he said.

But Oregon faces another problem that could hamper firefighting efforts: jet fuel shortages.

This Californian firefighter has been on the job for 25 years. He saw with his own eyes how the forest fires got worse

The Lake County Airport in Oregon was unable to replenish its supply of Jet A aviation fuel until Wednesday after running out on Sunday, the county sheriff’s office said in a statement from hurry. The airport is home to a helibase where helicopters fighting the Bootleg Fire refuel and take off to fight the blaze, said Jamie Knight, public information officer for the Bootleg Fire.

The airport manager placed a fuel order six days earlier, but delivery was delayed due to a nationwide shortage, the sheriff’s office said.

Fortunately, the shortages have yet to have an impact on the fight against the fires, Knight said, adding that Jet A is a type of aviation fuel used in turbine engines, tankers and aircraft. helicopters.

A cloud caused by the Bootleg Fire drifts in the air north of Forward Operating Base Bootleg Fire in Bly, Ore., July 15, 2021.

“We have experienced almost critical shortages,” Knight said. “We haven’t had a point where lack of fuel has stopped operations.”

Ocean Air Aviation delivered 3,500 gallons of Jet A on Wednesday, and Lake County supplier Phillips 66 is expected to bring an additional 8,500 gallons of Jet A fuel on Friday, the sheriff’s office said.

Forest fires continue to ravage the West

The United States was grappling with 71 fires and complexes on Thursday that have so far burned 993,678 acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

In addition to the nation’s largest in Oregon, the log fire started northeast of the Bootleg Fire and charred nearly 5,000 acres.

In Washington state, the rapid red apple fire in Chelan County that began July 13 has burned 11,000 acres and remains 10% contained, according to Inciweb.

Authorities have placed 1,500 homes under evacuation notice, the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release.

The Bootleg Fire night shift listens to a briefing at its base of operations in Bly, Ore. On July 15, 2021.

Meanwhile, residents are also subject to evacuation warnings in Butte County, California, where the Dixie Fire has reached 7,497 acres with a 7% containment, according to Cal Fire.

Joe Sutton, Amanda Watts, Chris Boyette and Andy Rose contributed reporting.

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