Wildfires continue to swell amid unbearable western heat, forcing hundreds to evacuate in Montana

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The Richard Spring fire, which burns on the northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in southeastern Montana, “has threatened several communities and infrastructure in the region,” according to InciWeb, the US clearinghouse for information on fires.

“The fire behavior is extreme with wind-driven tracks and burns mostly in brush, short grass and wood,” InciWeb said. “The current weather conditions of high winds and low relative humidity combined with high temperatures are expected to continue and maintain or increase fire behavior. ”

Northern Cheyenne Disaster & Emergency Services and the Rosebud County Sheriff’s Office said on Facebook that residents had to evacuate due to the blaze, which had charred 149,453 acres on Wednesday. The fire was brought under control to 15%.
Firefighters are already bracing for increased activity in the West due to the unbearable heat and severe droughts. There are 105 active wildfires in 14 states, burning 2.4 million acres.
The Pacific Northwest is once again subject to heat warnings as temperatures rise up to 25 degrees above normal.
An aircraft drops fire retardant to slow the spread of the Richard Spring fire on August 11, 2021.

Biggest active fire ravages more land

As the heat intensifies, the Dixie Fire in northern California burned more than 500,000 acres on Wednesday.
The blaze, which is burning in four counties, has grown steadily over the past month and was 30% contained on Wednesday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as Cal Fire.

“Firefighters continue to aggressively clean hot spots within the fire perimeter to prevent any risk of embers or debris crossing the line of fire,” Cal Fire said in its update. “Tactical patrols continue to mitigate risk to ensure the area is safe when residents return home. ”

The blaze, the second largest in California state history, destroyed 1,045 structures, including more than 550 homes and 140 commercial buildings. 69 other structures were damaged and more than 15,000 structures remain in danger.

The historic drought of the West in 3 maps

California’s wildfire season has been exacerbated by severe drought and the climate change crisis.

Wildfires have so far ravaged more than 917,000 acres, a dramatic 233% increase from the same period last year, becoming the worst year of forest fires on record in the State, according to Cal Fire.

A firefighter stands at the edge of the forest fire that burns in the northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation on August 11, 2021.

Water levels drop amid forest fires and drought

The severe drought in the West has not only triggered dozens of forest fires, but it has also dried up water supplies.

In Utah, 32 of the 42 largest reservoirs in the state are below 55% of available capacity. The state’s overall storage capacity has remained stable at 53 percent, according to a drought report from the state’s Department of Natural Resources.

Dry conditions have only worsened since the start of the year, with more than 99% of the state under the designation of “extreme” drought, according to the US Drought Monitor, which is produced through a partnership between the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

California reservoir set to drop so low that hydroelectric power station will shut down for the first time

More than 2.7 million people in the state experience some form of drought, according to the Monitor. The DNR said about 95% of Utah’s water comes from the snowpack.

Around the same time last year, just over 10% were in “extreme” drought, with nowhere in the “exceptional” drought category, the DNR said in the report.

“The benefits we’ve seen from recent rainstorms are wearing off as the soil dries out,” Utah Department of Natural Resources executive director Brian Steed said in the report. “We have seen a measurable decrease in water use statewide, allowing more water to be kept in our tanks for later use.”

Lake Powell reaches lowest level on record in climate change water crisis
Water levels have also fallen in California, where the Edward Hyatt power station at Lake Oroville – the state’s second largest reservoir – was forced to close last week for the first time since it opened in 1967.

Lake Oroville had dropped to 24% of its total capacity. That’s 10 percentage points below the historic reservoir average for Aug. 5, according to data from the California Department of Water Resources.

In addition, Lake Powell, the second largest reservoir in the United States, has fallen to its lowest level on record since filling over 50 years ago.

At the end of last month, the lake had fallen to 33% according to the United States Bureau of Reclamation, below the previous all-time high set in 2005.

CNN’s Joe Sutton contributed to this report.

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